Race to the Edge season 2
by Serenity Dragonrider
Summary: Here's my version of the second season of Race to the Edge
1. Astrid's Team

**Astrid's Team**

* * *

Tenor was on night patrol with Astrid, Hiccup, and their dragons. They were keeping an eye out for Dagur and his Berserkers who were still at large. Though they hadn't yet found Dragon's Edge, Tenor was so sure they were going to that he had hidden his rider Serenity in the caves on the snow covered mountain. The entrance to the caves were hidden so well that only the island's locals, the Night Terrors, knew where they were. Their alpha, Silvereye, had assured Tenor that she would be very safe there. Originally Tenor wanted to send her back to their homeland, Draconia, but Hiccup and the other riders said they still needed a dragon healer and translator. So he went to his second option and hid her away. Tenor felt assured knowing that she was safe, and well supplied with food and water.

The three dragons and two riders were wrapping up their night patrol. Tenor hadn't said a word the whole time. Hiccup could guess what was on his mind.

"Don't worry Tenor, Serenity's safe," Hiccup said. "We'll make sure the Berserkers don't get their hands on her."

"Besides, the Berserkers don't know where we are," said Astrid.

"I'm not taking any chances," Tenor said. "I'm responsible for her out here. If she's killed, I'll throw myself into Re's dungeons."

"Calm down Tenor, nothing's happened yet," said Hiccup. "Now, come on we should check on the Night Terrors." Tenor took a deep breath.

"Alright," he said. He followed them to the perches where the Night Terrors provided lookout. But when they got there they found the perches abandoned.

"Where are the Night Terrors?" asked Astrid. She looked at Tenor.

"Don't look at me, I'm not the boss of them," Tenor said. Hiccup suddenly got angry.

"Tuffnut!" he roared. He steered Toothless towards the outpost and landed at the training arena. Apparently the Twins had been playing with the Night Terrors, preventing them from doing their job. Tenor couldn't help but be amused.

"Guys, what are doing?" asked Hiccup, frustrated. Meatlug turned to Tenor, as the riders argued.

"How's Serenity?" she asked.

"I haven't checked on her yet," said Tenor.

"We haven't seen her a while," said Hookfang. "When are you going to bring her out again?"

"I would have brought her out tonight," Tenor said. "But some dragons can't keep a lid on their riders, and those riders distract the sentries." He glared at Barf and Belch.

"Hey come on PM, we don't see any Berserkers heading this way," said Belch, in defense.

"Besides, it's not like we distracted all of the Night Terrors," said Barf. Tenor sighed.

"I'll be back," he said. He spread his black wings.

"Can we visit her with you?" asked Meatlug. "She must be so lonely in those caves."

"Not tonight," Tenor said. "I'm just going to see if she's still sleeping. And she's got a few Night Terrors to keep her company."

"Oh, so your rider gets to play with the Night Terrors and ours doesn't," pouted Belch.

"She's not playing with them," Tenor snapped. He spread his wings again and took off.

He flew into the mountain caves, using his sonar to find his way. He flew down the long tunnel. Soon he landed in a chamber with more tunnels leading away from it in different directions. Tenor folded his wings and went down one of the tunnels. It was very short and let to a cave where his rider was sleeping on her camp bed. Two Night Terrors were perched on small ledges, talking amongst themselves. They looked up when Tenor entered.

"No trouble here Prime Minister," said one Terror. "She sleeps like a Hotburple, only not as loudly." She chuckled. Tenor approached his rider quietly and nuzzled her face. Serenity stirred and opened her eyes.

"Tenor?" she whispered.

"Sorry to wake you lovely," Tenor said. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright," Serenity said. She stroked his snout. "Are you staying this time?" Tenor sighed.

"I will, if you go back to sleep," he said, laying down. Serenity obeyed and closed her eyes. Tenor sat quietly watching her. The two Night Terrors went back to talking quietly. Suddenly Tenor heard a dragon land outside.

"Tenor, you in here?" Hiccup called. Tenor hurried outside before Serenity woke up again.

"Keep it down," he snapped. Hiccup, Astrid, Fishlegs, and their dragons were the only ones who knew Serenity was being hidden.

"Sorry Tenor," said Hiccup, lowering his lantern. "But Berk was attacked, we need to go check it out."

"Alright," said Tenor. "I'll be right back." He turned and went back inside. He informed the two terrors where he was going. Then he followed Hiccup and Toothless outside. They joined up with the other riders and headed for Berk.

It took them all night to reach Berk. The sun was well up by the time they reached it. They saw smoke billowing into the sky. The riders and dragons flew to the plaza where Stoic was waiting with Skullcrusher. The dragons hovered in the air. Hiccup was shocked and angry.

"Hiccup, I'm glad you're here," said Stoic.

"Who did this?" asked Hiccup. "Dagur?"

"It was a hit and run attack," said Stoic. "Catapults and a volley of flaming arrows mostly. Burned down a few buildings. Astrid, one of them was your parents house." Astrid took off before Stoic could finish his sentence. Tenor followed her and they landed in the plaza. They approached the pile of burnt lumber, that was what was left of Astrid's house. Astrid looked horrified and worried. Stormfly was staring sadly at what was left of her den. At that moment Gobber approached them, covered in soot.

"Not to worry las," he said. "Your parents are fine, they weren't home when it happened."

"That's an amazing stroke of luck," said Tenor.

"If they had been home though," said Astrid, with dread.

"But they weren't," said Gobber. Tenor turned to Stormfly.

"Sorry about your den," he said.

"That's okay," said Stormfly. "I still have the one on Dragon's Edge." At that moment Hiccup went up to Tenor.

"Tenor, I need your help to find Dagur," he said. Tenor perked his ears up at this.

"At your service sir," he said, saluting. The two dragons spread their wings and took off.

They flew north, far from Berk. Tenor and Toothless scanned the ocean with their sharp eyes. Hiccup looked with his spyglass. They said very little and kept their focus on the hunt. Then Toothless noticed Tenor's worried expression.

"You're worried about Serenity aren't you?" he said.

"Yeah," said Tenor I really hope nothing bad happens to her."

"Well, we're going to help you keep her safe," said Toothless. Tenor turned his attention back to searching for a few minuets.

"Thanks cousin," he said.

"I imagine this can't be too fun for her," said Toothless. "Being in the dark all the time. Not able to go outside."

"I'll bring her out, when there is no danger," Tenor said. "I won't keep in that cave all the time. Only when I have to go fight bad guys, and when Hiccup decides to get Dagur riled up."

"Well guys I don't see Dagur anywhere," Hiccup said. "Do you?"

"No," said Tenor. "But this happened yesterday, so I don't really expect to."

"You got a point Tenor," said Hiccup. "Lets get back to Berk. We'll head back to Dragon's Edge tomorrow."

"Ah, good," said Tenor happily. They turned around and headed back the way they'd come. Tenor led the way, as he was better at navigating.

It was sundown when they got back to the arena. They landed next to the other riders and dragons. Tenor yawned.

"No sign of Dagur," said Hiccup. "But then again, he did have a whole day's head start."

"Oh, well," said Tenor. "They'll be plenty of opportunities to fight him." He pawed the ground restlessly. At that moment Astrid and Stormfly landed in the arena. Astrid dismounted looking tired and distraught.

"How's your family?" Hiccup asked.

"They're okay," said Astrid. "But their house, the house I grew up in, is gone."

"Personally I would rather lose a house than a family," said Tenor.

"Okay gang," Hiccup said. "Dagur was last seen heading north. My guess is he's heading out of the Archipelago. We head back to Dragon's Edge first thing tomorrow. Everyone go back to your houses and get a good night's rest." They all disbursed. Astrid went over to Stormfly.

"Where are you guys staying?" asked Hiccup, concerned.

"I figured we'd bed down here," said Astrid sadly. She pulled her bed roll off her saddle.

"Oh, what a coincidence I thought we'd sleep down here too," said Hiccup enthusiastically.

"But you have a house, and nice warm bed," said Astrid.

"Yeah, but the way my dad snores, Toothless and I wouldn't get a wink," said Hiccup. It seemed all the riders we up for sleeping in the arena. Astrid was touched by this. Tenor decided to stay as well. He laid down and watched the other dragons settle down next to their riders. He was really missing Serenity now. He was also missing his two comrades, Re and Aurora. They were currently back in Draconia, building a huge wall around the nation's borders. Last Tenor heard, they were just about done. Once they were done they had promised to come out and visit Dragon's Edge. But until then, Tenor was on his own. He found it difficult to sleep. He watched the sun go down, and his old friends the moon and stars came out. Tenor never felt alone when they were out. He got to his feet and went out of the arena. He glided over the the ledge on the other side of the bridge. He looked out at the stars. The moon was a waning gibbous.

He must have lost track of time because he suddenly heard someone approaching him. He turned his head around and saw that it was his Astrid.

"Hello Ms. Astrid," he said, looking back at the stars. "What brings you out here?"

"Can't sleep," said Astrid. "Why are you out here?"

"I'm worried about Serenity," said Tenor. "I couldn't sleep either, so I came out here to visit some old friends." Astrid followed his gaze.

"The stars?" she said.

"Yes the stars," said Tenor. "Unlike most humans, the stars never lie. Nor do they judge."

"And Tenor, I know how you feel now, about Serenity," said Astrid. "When you're this far away, that's when bad things are more likely to happen to her."

"Hmmm," said Tenor, sitting on his haunches. "Usually you'd frown on me worrying this much."

"That was before my house burned down," said Astrid. "And my parents were at risk of getting burned to death."

"This town has gotten attacked by dragons for three hundred years," said Tenor. "Hasn't your house been burned down before?"

"Not on my watch," said Astrid, strongly. "It would only catch fire, but burn down completely."

"I see," said Tenor. "But your parents are alive, that's got to be something."

"Yeah," Astrid agreed. She looked at Tenor. "You don't have parents do you?" Tenor inhaled deeply.

"My parents left my egg on the castle doorstep," he said. "They're probably dead by now." Astrid flinched.

"I should've been here," she said. "I could've done something."

"Astrid, Astrid," Tenor said. "You can't be in two places at once. And even you could there's very little you could've done. That was a lot of fire being shot according to Skullchrusher. It was engulfed in flames before anyone could react."

"Tenor, what would do about this?" asked Astrid. "How would you get rid of this guilt."

"Me?" Tenor said, surprised. "I would accept the fact that this is has happened, be grateful that no one was hurt or killed, and make sure it never happens again." Astrid considered.

"Thanks Tenor," she said. Tenor nodded once, then turned and left. He was finally starting to get sleepy. He laid down and fell asleep.

The next morning the riders woke up a bit stiff. Tenor got to his feet and stretched. Hiccup went up to Astrid, who was still waking up.

"Didn't get any sleep?" he asked.

"No," said Astrid. "I was thinking, I couldn't sleep."

"Well, we're wings up in an hour," said Hiccup. "I'll carry your gear for you."

"I've made a decision Hiccup," said Astrid. "I'm not going back to Dragon's Edge, I'm staying here." Hiccup and the other riders were taken aback by this.

"Wait what? You're staying here?" Hiccup said. "When did you decide this?"

"Last night," said Astrid as she got to her feet. "I can't leave Berk defenseless again."

"Astrid, one dragon wouldn't have made a difference," said Hiccup.

"I know that," said Astrid. "So, I'm going to train new riders for a back up team. And I'm going to do it alone." Hiccup considered for a few minuets.

"Change of plan," he said. "Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the Twins head north and pick up Dagur's trail." Astrid crossed her arms.

"Hiccup, what part of alone did you not get?" she asked.

"Toothless and I are going to patrol around Berk and make sure Dagur doesn't double back," Hiccup explained.

"What do you want me to do?" asked Tenor.

"I need you to come with us," said Hiccup. "I know you want to check on Serenity but..."

"The sooner Dagur's defeated the sooner I can get her out of here," Tenor interrupted. "So, I'm game for anything." Hiccup smiled, satisfied. He turned back to Astrid.

"You won't even know we're here," he said.

"Okay," said Astrid. "That's assuming anyone would want to show up for our B-team." For some reason she sounded hopeful.

But half an hour later a bunch of vikings came to he arena. The riders and their dragons were in the spectator's area. They watched the activity below.

"Nice turn out," Hiccup remarked.

"Indeed," said Tenor. He glanced down at the group it included: Spitlout, Mulch, Bucket, Sven, Gothi, and Gustave. The riders turned and took off, Tenor followed Hiccup and Toothless.

"Hey, Tenor," Hookfang called. "You want one of us to check on Serenity for you?"

"Would you?" said Tenor relieved. "That would be helpful. But don't bring her out."

"You got it," said Hookfang. With that everyone disbursed.

Tenor and Toothless circled Berk. They kept their eyes open for anymore enemy ships. Luckily they didn't see any.

"What were you saying to Hookfang?" asked Hiccup.

"He offered to check on Serenity for me," said Tenor.

"You didn't have to hide her," said Hiccup.

"I don't plan on keeping her down there all the time," said Tenor. "I'll bring her out when there's no danger."

"Well I don't see any sign of Dagur," said Hiccup, changing the subject. "Lets go see how Astrid's doing."

"Okay," said Tenor. They turned and headed back to the arena. Tenor landed next to Stormfly.

"Everything going swimmingly?" he asked.

"Pretty much," said Stormfly. "Astrid's making them ride brooms." They watched the humans running about with brooms between their legs. Astrid came over and stood beside her dragon.

"Why are you making them ride brooms?" Tenor asked.

"Dragon riding is hard and dangerous," Astrid explained. "I'm starting small. It's not all fun and games."

"Hmm, interesting," Tenor said. "All the of the best dragon riders I know didn't start with riding brooms. Did you know, that ever since Serenity started riding she hasn't fallen off once."

"Really?" said Astrid. "Not once?"

"Nope," said Tenor. "She's really good at riding." He spread his wings and took off to rejoin Hiccup and Toothless. Astrid went back to training.

Serenity sat quietly in her cave. A few Night Terrors were gathered around her chair. She was worried about Tenor, and wished he was in the cave with her, also safe. She didn't mind hiding. She didn't know what the Berserkers would do to her, and she wanted to live so see her dragons again. Tenor had promised her that she wouldn't stay in the dark forever. She had just dozed off when Hookfang entered the cave. Serenity beamed.

"Hookfang!" she exclaimed. She got to her feet and hugged his snout.

"Hey, Serenity," said Hookfang. "How are you doing down here?"

"I'm okay," said Serenity. "Where's Tenor?"

"He's back on Berk," said Hookfang. "They got hit by Dagur and Hiccup want's to hunt him down."

"I see," said Serenity. She sat back in her chair. "Well I'm glad you're here."

"Really I'm surprised you didn't protest against being hidden down here," said Hookfang.

"I know better than to protest against a dragon," said Serenity. "Tenor knows what he's doing. I trust him." She stroked Hookfang's snout.

"Well, I should be going," Hookfang said. "We're going out for another patrol." Serenity sighed.

"Alright," she said. Hookfang nuzzled her.

"Don't worry, once there's no more danger, we'll bring you out," he said. Serenity hugged him again. Then he turned and left. Serenity leaned back in her chair. A Night Terror nudged her hand and she petted him. She pulled out her sewing and got to work.

Back on Berk; Hiccup, Toothless, and Tenor were watching Astrid continue training the back up riders. They were now riding dragons. Mulch and Bucket were on a Zippleback, Gustave and Sven were on Monstrous Nightmares, Gothi was on a Gronkle, and Spitlout was on a Nadder. Astrid set up a target and had the trainees fire a single shot at it. They all tried it. Everyone but Spitlout hit it.

"They're good," said Tenor.

"Yeah they are," Hiccup agreed. But for some reason Astrid said they had all failed.

"We have to start from the beginning," she said. Tenor and Toothless exchanged a glance.

"What is she doing?" Hiccup asked, confused. "It's almost like wants them to fail. At this rate she'll never get done." He furrowed his brow in thought.

"I wonder," Tenor said.

"I'm going to go talk to her," Hiccup said. He left the spectator's area, both dragons followed. They entered the arena. By now the trainees had gone home.

"Hey Astrid, can we talk?" Hiccup asked.

"I'm busy Hiccup," said Astrid. There was a short pause.

"Look Astrid, I know what you're doing," said Hiccup.

"What are talking about?" said Astrid.

"You want these guys to fail so you have an excuse to stay on Berk," said Hiccup. "You want to stay on Berk to protect your parents."

"It's so interesting when that happens," Tenor said to Toothless.

"What is?" Toothless asked.

"When a child does a parent's job," Tenor said. "A parent is supposed to keep their child safe. Then at some point the child is doing the same for them."

"That is interesting," Toothless agreed. "You think it's going to happen to you?" Tenor looked at the ground sadly.

"I doubt it," said Tenor. "I'm usually the one doing all the rescuing." They turned back to listening.

"Astrid you can't protect them everyday for the rest of their lives," Hiccup said. Astrid said nothing. She wouldn't even look at Hiccup. He sighed in defeat.

"I'm gonna go to Dragon's Edge, check on those guys and see if they've spotted Dagur," he said. "I'll be back in a few days we can talk then." Astrid still said nothing. Hiccup went over to his dragon and mounted up.

"You coming Tenor?" he asked.

"No, I'll stick around here a while," Tenor said, casually. "See how this turns out."

"You sure?" Hiccup asked.

"Oh yeah, I'll be along later," Tenor said. Hiccup and Toothless took off. Astrid began cleaning up after training, with Stormfly's help. Tenor helped as well, not wanting to appear lazy. No one spoke as they worked. Astrid didn't seem to mind having Tenor around. Once they were done the headed for the exit.

"Thanks Tenor," said Astrid.

"Oh not a problem Ms. Astrid," said Tenor humbly.

"You can go back to Dragon's Edge if you want to," said Astrid. "See how Serenity's doing."

"Believe it or not, my loyalties aren't just to her," said Tenor. "No dragon and rider should be left behind. I'll go back, but only when you do."

"I'm not going back for a while," said Astrid.

"I'm aware of that," Tenor said, then he spread his wings and took off. He headed back to the village.

The next day Tenor watched the next training session with Stormfly. They had just started when Stoic flew in on Skullcrusher. They both looked concerned.

"Astrid, we just got a message from Hiccup," said Stoic. "The edge is under attack." Astrid called Stormfly over and mounted her.

"Let us come too," said Spitlout. "We can help fight."

"No," said Astrid sternly. "You're no where near ready for combat yet. Stay here, that's an order." Then Stormfly and Skullcrusher took off. The back up riders looked very disappointed. Tenor watched the two dragons fly away. An idea formed in his mind. He flew down to the arena and landed in front of the back up riders.

"Are you lot really going to just stand there and do nothing?" he asked, as he folded his wings.

"You heard what she said," said Sven.

"And since when have vikings done what they're told?" Tenor scoffed. They exchanged a glance.

"He's got a point," said Spitlout. "What did you have in mind black dragon."

"Now, that's better," Tenor said.

"But Astrid will get awful mad about this," said Gustave.

"Well, this was my idea," Tenor said. "I'll take the fireball for you."

"Thanks Tenor," said Mulch. Tenor nodded. Then he called their dragons and mounted them. The dragons spread their wings and took off. They all followed Tenor towards Dragon's Edge.

Back on Dragon's Edge, Astrid and Stoic arrived and helped the other riders fight the Berserkers. Fire, catapults, bolas, and arrows flew through the air. The dragons were able to hold their ground, but they couldn't drive the Berserkers off. Dagur fired a chain at Stormfly and snagged her leg. She struggled to get free. Astrid slid down the chain, ax ready. She fought the Berserkers, releasing Stormfly. But the Berserkers managed to grab her and hold her arms behind her back. Suddenly Gustave and Fanghook swooped in and fought off the Berserkers. Everyone looked up to see the back up riders flying towards them, with Tenor in the lead. With these numbers the riders managed to sink several ships. Tenor zipped from boat to boat blasting holes in their hauls. He also killed several Berserkers with his venomous teeth. In the end Dagur had no choice but to withdraw with his last two ships. The riders cheered in victory. They turned and headed for Dragon's Edge's arena.

Astrid wasn't pleased. She glared at the back up riders.

"You disobeyed a direct order," she snapped. "Who's responsible for this mutiny."

"His," all the riders said in unison, pointing behind Astrid. She turned to see Tenor landing in the arena.

"You told them to disobey me?" Astrid asked, shocked.

"I did," said Tenor. "And I regret, nothing."

"Tenor, that's not what they were trained to do," said Astrid. Tenor's eyes went wide.

"You mean they weren't trained to fight?" he asked, with mock confusion.

"No, they were," said Astrid. "But they were trained to follow orders."

"Hmmm," said Tenor. "From my observation of you vikings, you never do what you're told." He glanced at Hiccup for a brief second. "You do what's right and dam the consequences." Astrid considered this.

"You have a point Tenor," she said. She turned back to the back up riders. "What you did was dangerous and reckless. But it was also very brave, I couldn't be more proud to call you fellow dragon riders." They all cheered.

"Gustave, as the most experienced," Astrid continued. "I'm putting you in charge of the back up riders." Gustave punched the air in excitement. "I'm staying on Dragon's Edge. After all, I can't defend Berk by myself every second of everyday." She smiled at Hiccup, and he smiled back. The back up riders got on their dragons and took off. Astrid turned to Tenor.

"Good work Tenor," she said. Tenor beamed and purred.

"I love my job," he said. "I just Re and Aurora could have seen me do that."

"Well you did them proud Tenor," said Stoic. Tenor nodded.

"You should go check on Serenity," said Hiccup. "We'll begin repairs."

"You sure you don't need help?" Tenor asked.

"We're sure," Hiccup said.

"Fine," said Tenor. He spread his wings and took off, heading for the mountain.


	2. Night of the Hunters pt 1

**Night of the Hunters pt. 1**

* * *

Tenor was sleeping on a cliff next to the outpost. Serenity was asleep in the yurt beside him. He deemed it safe enough for her to sleep in there instead of the mountain cave where he hid her. He woke up to a bright sunrise. He spotted Astrid and Stormfly doing a morning flight. Thinking nothing of it, Tenor hid his head under his wing and went back to sleep. Just then he heard something small land in front of him. He sat up expecting a Night Terror, but it was a bright red Hermes Dragon. He had a scroll tied to his horn.

"Sorry to wake you Prime Minister sir," he said importantly. "But I have a message from the King and Queen." Tenor shook himself awake. He took the scroll off the Hermes Dragon's horn, and opened it. He read it quietly. Then he beamed.

"Thank you, you are dismissed," he said to the Hermes Dragon. He nodded and flew off. Tenor waited for the riders and dragons to wake up so he could tell them the good news.

When the sun was fully up he went to the clubhouse where the riders here having breakfast. They all looked up when Tenor barged into the room.

"Hey Tenor, have you seen Astrid and Stromfly?" asked Hiccup.

"I saw them flying earlier," said Tenor. "Have they not come in?"

"No," said Hiccup. "What are you so excited about anyway?" He noticed Tenor prancing on the spot, swishing his tail.

"Re and Aurora are coming to Dragon's Edge in a few days," Tenor said. "They plan to stop at Berk first then come out here."

"Hey great," said Hiccup. "Do you think they'll help us fight Dagur?"

"They might," said Tenor. "You'd have to be very persuasive."

"How long are they staying?" asked Fishlegs.

"Dunno," said Tenor honestly.

"Do you think Astrid's okay out there?" Hiccup asked, changing the subject. "She's never been gone this long before."

"Well, give her until sundown," Tenor suggested. "Then go looking for her."

"You wouldn't wait so long if it was Serenity out there," Hiccup pointed out.

"True," said Tenor. "But Serenity wouldn't be going anywhere without me." Before anyone could respond, he turned and flew out the door.

He went back to the yurt, where Serenity was waiting for him. She smiled when he landed.

"Re and Aurora are coming in a few day," Tenor said.

"Oh, yay," said Serenity. "I've really missed them."

"Me too," said Tenor as he laid beside her chair. "It's nice to have comrades around." Serenity stroked his snout.

"I feels nice to be out of that cave for a while," she said.

"I agree," said Tenor. "I wish I didn't have to keep putting you in there though."

"Maybe Re and Aurora will know what to do," Serenity said.

"Yeah, they most likely will," Tenor said. He nuzzled her neck. She hugged his head. She scratched behind his sonar flaps.

"You know, you can go home if you want to," Tenor said, leaning into her touch. "I'm sure I can persuade Hiccup to allow this."

"I actually love it out here," said Serenity. "So many new dragons to meet. I do miss home. But I would miss this place just as much if I went home."

"Hmm," said Tenor. "That's pretty conflicting."

"I also like being helpful to these guys," said Serenity. "Even though I don't get to do much." Tenor strained his mind for a change of subject.

"Say, lets go flying," he said. "You haven't been in a long time."

"True," said Serenity. She got to her feet. She mounted Tenor and they took off.

They flew all over the island. Tenor didn't want to go too far from the island, incase Dagur was lurking somewhere nearby. They did several hight speed acrobats. Tenor was a very erratic flyer, but Serenity didn't mind one bit. They spent the whole day flying. Then they went back to the yurt. When they got back they found Hiccup and Toothless waiting for them. Tenor landed and Serenity dismounted.

"Let me guess, still no sign of Astrid," said Tenor.

"She's been gone all day," said Hiccup. "I need you to help find her." Tenor sighed.

"Very well," he said. "I'll go put Serenity in her cave, then join you."

"Ah, that's not really necessary is it?" said Hiccup.

"This may be a decoy," said Tenor. "Dagur may sneak in here while we're all out and steal the Dragon Eye."

"Good point," said Hiccup. "Well, don't be too long." Serenity mounted Tenor again. They flew up to the mountain caves. Tenor put Serenity in her cave, then he flew back to the outpost.

The other riders were ready to go when he landed next to them. Hiccup turned to him, looking extremely worried.

"Tenor, how good are you at finding things in the vast ocean?" Hiccup asked.

"Errrr, I've gotten better at it to be honest," Tenor said.

"Even in that?" Hiccup pointed at the black storm clouds.

"Oh, not going to me much of a problem," said Tenor.

"Good, then let's go," said Hiccup. They took off and headed in to the storm. When they were over the open ocean it started to rain heavily. The riders split up. Hiccup and Toothless flew south, followed by Tenor. Both dragons used their sonar. So far they saw no sign of Astrid. Hiccup got more and more worried.

"Astrid can swim right?" Tenor asked.

"Yes," said Hiccup. "But she's been out here all day, she's probably exhausted by now."

"Ah, that's true," said Tenor, sending out another signal. They tuned their attention to looking. It was dark and rainy. Tenor had to fly slightly lower than Toothless to avoid lightening, as he had more metal on him than the Night Fury. The two dragons used their sonar and Hiccup called Astrid's name. Then Tenor spotted something waving at them from the water.

"Hiccup! over there!" he called over the storm, he pointed at what he'd seen. Hiccup followed his gaze. He spotted Astrid, just before she slipped into the water.

"Astrid!" Hiccup cried. He steered Toothless over to where he'd last seen her, and jumped into the water after her. Tenor and Toothless hovered over the water, waiting. Toothless managed to stay airborne, with some help from Tenor. Neither of them spoke.

"You're going to have to be the one that grabs them," Toothless said to Tenor after a while. "I can't fly strait enough."

"You got it," Tenor said. No sooner had he said that then Hiccup emerged, with Astrid in hand. Tenor swooped down and grabbed them. He set them down on Toothless's saddle. They turned and headed for Dragon's Edge. Tenor flew alongside. Astrid was alive, but way exhausted. Hiccup was relieved.

"She's okay," he said to the two dragons.

"Oh, that's a relief," said Tenor, Toothless gurgled in agreement. "But where's Stormfly?"

"We'll worry about that later," said Hiccup. He clicked the stirrup and Toothless picked up speed. Tenor followed easily.

They met up with the other riders and headed back to Dragon's Edge. When they got there Hiccup rushed Astrid to her her hut. The other riders followed him. Tenor and the other dragons went to the stables to get out of the rain. They sat in a circle and watched the rain.

"You think she'll be okay?" asked Meatlug.

"She's just tired," said Tenor. "A good night's rest will do the trick."

"No, not Astrid, Stormfly," Meatlug explained. "Stormfly's still missing."

"Oh," said Tenor. "Well I don't know to be honest. But once Astrid comes around, we'll be looking for her." He yawned and stretched.

"You should go check on Serenity," Toothless said. "We're not going anywhere for a while." Tenor got to his feet.

"Man, the sooner my comrades get here," he said. "The sooner I can find an alternative to just putting her in a cave and leaving her there for long periods of time."

"Can we come see her too?" asked Hookfang.

"Sure," said Tenor. All the dragons spread their wings and took off. Hookfang gave Toothless a ride.

They flew into the mountain caves. They landed in the main cave. Tenor lit it with a plasma blast. Serenity was still awake and sitting in her chair. She smiled when the dragons landed.

"Hello everyone," she said. Toothless nudged her hand and she petted him.

"We thought we'd all come to see you this time," he said.

"Did you find Astrid?" asked Serenity.

"Yes we did," said Toothless. "But we still haven't found Stormfly. We plan to head out again when Astrid comes round and this storm lets up."

"You need me to tag along?" Serenity asked, she sounded hopeful.

"No," said Tenor. "If she's injured we'll bring her back here. I'm not going to risk loosing you. We almost lost Astrid out there." Serenity sighed sadly.

"Alright," she said. She leaned back in her chair. "I wish I could more helpful." The dragons exchanged a glance.

"This will be resolved once Re and Aurora get here," said Tenor. "I'll find away to keep you safe without leaving you don't here, and I'll find a way for you to do more."

"You promise?" Serenity asked.

"Dragon's honor," said Tenor, holding his paw strait up. Serenity sighed again, reassured. Tenor nuzzled her scarred cheek. She stroked his neck. The cave grew quiet. The dragons laid around Serenity's chair. Tenor put his head in her lap. She stroked him absentmindedly. There were about three Night Terrors perched on a large ledge overhead, they were dozing off. The dragons weren't too worried about their riders. The storm was still raging outside. Serenity and the dragons soon dozed off.

When the storm ended, the dragons said good bye to Serenity and flew back to the outpost. They waited outside Astrid's hut. Suddenly Astrid came barreling down the stairs, the others following.

"Tenor, we're going to look for Stormfly," Hiccup said. "She was taken by dragon hunters, do you think Astrid can ride on your back until further notice?"

"Absolutely," said Tenor. "Dragon hunters you say."

"Yeah, you remember that ship, The Reaper, where we found the Dragon Eye?" said Hiccup.

"Oh yeah," Tenor said. "That was one of theirs?" Hiccup nodded.

"Come on we're wasting time," said Astrid. The riders and dragons went outside. The riders mounted their dragons, Astrid mounted Tenor and they set off.

They flew to the island where Astrid had seen the hunters. The riders dismounted and began looking for clues. There were cages and other items scattered about the beach. Tenor found a pile of dried seaweed and began chewing on it like gum. He sniffed about the sand. Suddenly he spotted something green sticking out of the sand, and it had a powerful sent. He hissed. He dug the thing out with his claws. It was an arrowhead, covered in green slime. He picked it up and examined it.

"Guys, over here," he called. The riders gathered around him. "Found this." Astrid took it from him and looked at it closely.

"It's a dragon hunter arrow," she said. "Stormfly was hit by one of these, just before she was captured."

"What's that green stuff?" asked Hiccup. Fishlegs took the arrowhead and examined it, muttering to himself.

"It's Dragonroot," Tenor said, getting impatient. "I know the smell anywhere."

"How come you're not affected by it?" asked Hiccup.

"Re, Aurora, and myself trained ourselves to overcome the influence of the Dragonroot," Tenor explained. "We're not immune to it, but we can ignore the urge to fight for it."

"Why would it be on this arrowhead?" asked Astrid.

"When in contact with a high dosage of it, it can overwhelm a dragon's senses and nerves," Tenor explained. "Making it impossible for them to fly."

"That's what happened to Stormfly," said Astrid, distressed.

"Knowing that these dragon hunters have this kind of weapon makes me glad I'm wearing armor," Tenor said, pounding on his chest plate.

"Those hunters have my dragon," said Astrid, raising her voice. "And we don't even know where they're going."

"Maybe not," said Hiccup, bearing his idea face. "But we do know where they've been. We're going back to the Reaper."

"Hey great," said Tenor. "I'm guessing by the time we rescue Stormfly, my comrades will have arrived at Dragon's Edge." The riders got on their dragons and took off.

They flew to the ship graveyard and landed on the Reaper, which had been brought up from the depths by the Berserkers. The riders dismounted and they began searching again. Tenor followed Hiccup and Astrid into the lower decks. They looked through every crate and barrel. Astrid got more panicky the longer they stayed there.

"There's nothing here," she said. "No clues, nothing."

"Astrid we have to stay positive," said Hiccup.

"You didn't see Ryker," said Astrid. "He actually enjoys hunting dragons and caging them."

"Typical," said Tenor. He spotted something on the wall and tilted his head.

"And he has MY DRAGON!" Astrid roared.

"Astrid, you panic this much you're going to start missing out on details," Tenor said. He went over the wall where a shield was hanging. It had a red and blue mosaic on it. There were two hexagons. Tenor smacked the shield with his fist, and one of the hexagons fell out into his other paw. He held it up and Hiccup recognized it at once.

"Dragon Eye lens," he said. Tenor handed it to him. "Lets go show the others." He went up to the top deck.

"Good eye Tenor," said Astrid.

"Thanks," said Tenor, still chewing on the seaweed.

"I don't know what I'd do with out Stormfly," said Astrid. Tenor looked sideways at her.

"We'll find her," he said. "And I know exactly how you feel. I felt the same way when Serenity was taken by the Death Song."

"But you didn't panic at all," said Astrid.

"On the outside," said Tenor. "But inside I was really panicking." At that moment Hiccup came back down with the other riders and their dragons.

"Tenor did you bring the Dragon Eye?" Hiccup asked. Tenor sat on his haunches. He reached into his saddlebags and pulled out the Dragon Eye. Hiccup took it. He put the new lens into it. They tried using the fire of all the dragons present, Tenor included, but the Dragon Eye showed them nothing.

"None of our dragons work with this new lens," said Hiccup.

"If we can't figure out what dragon we need," said Astrid.

"I know," Hiccup interrupted. Tuffnut looked at the picture on the shield. He was thinking hard.

"It's either the inside of a yak or a Changewing in a cage," he said. Hiccup looked at the picture more closely.

"Tuff that's it," he said. "Looks like we're going to Changewing Island. Tenor, Serenity has friends on that island right?"

"She does," said Tenor.

"Then we'll need her for this," said Hiccup.

"Alright," said Tenor.

They took off again and headed back to Dragon's Edge. They went into the mountain cave where Serenity was hiding. They landed in the main cave, Serenity wasn't there. Tenor went into the cave where she slept and found her. She smiled when she saw him.

"Hi Tenor," she said. She stroked his snout. He nuzzled her shoulder.

"Come on out," he said. "Hiccup has a job for you." Serenity followed him out to the main cave.

"Serenity we're going to Changewing Island," said Hiccup. "We need you to convince a Changewing to light up this new lens we found." He handed Serenity the Dragon Eye.

"Alright," said Serenity eagerly. She mounted Tenor and the other riders mounted their dragons. They took off and headed towards Changewing Island, Astrid rode on Toothless with Hiccup.

As they drew near the island, Hiccup told Serenity everything that had happened. By the time she'd heard everything they had landed on the island. They didn't see any Changewings.

"Where are they?" asked Astrid.

"They nest in the gorge," said Serenity. "Wait here, I'll go see if I can find Acid." She clicked the reins and Tenor took off. They flew towards the gorge. They hovered over it. There were a few Changewings flying about. Tenor let out a roar, announcing their presence. They were suddenly surrounded by Changewings.

"Hey it's Serenity," said one of them. "And Tenor."

"Hi everyone," said Serenity. "Where's Acid?"

"Acid's not here," said the same Changewing. "He's off fishing." Just then they were joined by a red and green titan wing Changewing.

"Hey Rellyt," said Tenor.

"Serenity, Prime Minister," said Rellyt. "What brings you here?"

"I need a favor," said Serenity. "Follow us." She turned Tenor around. Rellyt followed them back to the beach where the other riders and dragons were waiting. Rellyt paused in midair.

"Humans?" he said.

"It's okay," said Tenor. "They're on our side."

"If you say so," said Rellyt doubtfully. "Then why'd they bring weapons?"

"So they can fight other humans on our behalf," said Tenor. "Come on." He went in for landing, Rellyt followed. They landed in front of the riders.

"Wow a titan wing Changewing," said Fishlegs excitedly.

"He's the alpha here," said Serenity stroking Rellyt's neck. "His name's Rellyt."

"Now that we've got that out of the way," said Rellyt. "What is this favor you want?" Serenity took the Dragon Eye out of Tenor's saddlebags.

"We'll also need to borrow your cave," said Tenor. Rellyt snorted.

"I'm not letting these humans near our eggs," he said.

"Okay, then is there somewhere dark we can go?" Tenor asked. Rellyt considered.

"Yeah, this way," he said. He spread his wings and took off.

"Come on," said Tenor. The other dragons spread their wings and followed the Changewing.

He led them to a large cave, far from the gorge. They landed and went inside. Serenity handed Hiccup the Dragon Eye and he held it in front of Rellyt. Serenity told him what to do, and the Changewing filled his mouth with bright green acid. It lit up the Dragon Eye, projecting a green map on the wall. The riders studied it. Hiccup copied it in his notebook.

"What are those guys looking for?" Rellyt asked.

"For some dragon hunters," Tenor said. "They've captured a Nadder, along with many other dragons. We're going to hunt them down and rescue those dragons." Rellyt seemed interested.

"So, these humans are on our side," he said.

"Yup," said Tenor.

"Is there anything else I can do?" Rellyt asked. Tenor looked at his rider.

"My rider isn't a fighter," he said. "And I don't want her to get hurt. It'll waste time going to Dragon's Edge and back. You think you can give her a ride back to Berk?" Rellyt looked at Serenity as well.

"Sure," he said. "If that's okay with her."

"Yeah," said Serenity. "I don't mind."

"You sure?" Tenor asked.

"Positive," said Serneity. "I'll meet up with Re and Aurora and meet you back on Dragon's Edge."

"That's a plan," said Tenor. He nuzzled her. "Be careful." Serenity hugged him. Then she mounted Rellyt and they took off.

"Where are they going?" Hiccup asked, approaching Tenor.

"Rellyt's taking Serenity to Berk," Tenor said. "She'll be safe there. Now about those dragon hunters."

"I have a plan," said Hiccup. "But in order for it to work someone needs to get shot." He looked right at Fishlegs and Meatlug, the only dragon immune to the Dragonroot. Hiccup formed them all of his plan. Then they all mounted their dragons, Astrid got on Tenor again, and they took off.

They tracked down the dragon hunters. They found them over the open. The riders looked down at the fleet, getting the scale of it. There were at least a dozen ships.

"This'll be fun," said Tenor optimistically.

"Lets not be hasty Tenor," said Hiccup.

"Sorry," Tenor said, then he put a paw over his muzzle. "Oh, I swallowed my seaweed. Oh well, I can get more." He followed the other dragons as they dived towards the ships. They all shot fire at the lead ship. The hunters fired back with Dragonroot arrows. The dragons managed to avoid them. Just then Meatlug got shot in the leg and crashed onto the deck of the lead ship. The hunters moved in and chained both dragon and rider. Then they dragged both of them towards the hatch.

"They took the bait," said Hiccup. "Tenor time for you and Astrid to make your move."

"Oh, this is gonna hurt," Tenor said with a small moan. Astrid snapped the reins and Tenor dove towards the ship. Tenor shot several plasma blasts at the crossbows. Then he flew off and hovered over the ship.

"Come on you dragon hunters!" he taunted. "Give me your best shot!" He shot another blast at the ship. The hunters shot a boulder at him, and it hit him right in the chest. Tenor fell towards the water. Astrid fell off his saddle and was snatched by the hunters. Tenor splashed into the water and swam away as fast as he could. He had only been winded by the boulder, he armor prevented any serious injury. When he was out of range he took off again. He joined the others who were flying out of range of the arrows. They waited for Astrid, Fishlegs, and the two dragons to come back out.

"Maybe we should take out some of those other ships," Tenor suggested.

"No, stick with the plan Tenor," said Hiccup. Tenor growled impatiently. But then they saw the two riders and their dragons come out.

"Come on guys, move in," Hiccup shouted.

"Finally," said Tenor. He followed the three remaining dragons as they dived at the ships. The plan seemed to be working, but just when Astrid and Fishlegs were about to make their escape when the hunters snagged them with bolas. Hiccup was taken aback.

"Didn't work," he said. Suddenly the hunters fired at them again. Both Hookfang and the Zippleback were hit. Toothless flew erratically and managed to avoid them. Hiccup noticed that the arrows aimed at Tenor merely pinged off his armor. The Zippleback splashed into the water, along with the Twins. Toothless grabbed Hookfang by his tail.

"Tenor, retreat," Hiccup called.

"Whatever you say," said Tenor. He flew after Toothless, and helped carry Hookfang. They flew far from the fleet and headed for the nearest island.

When they got there they landed on the beach. Toothless set Hookfang down and Snotlout managed to dismount. Hiccup began pacing the beach, pounding his head. Tenor and Snotlout exchanged a glance. Tenor found more seaweed and started chewing it. Then he tightened the straps on his armor. Hiccup watched him, an idea forming in his mind.

"Tenor, where'd you get that armor?" he asked.

"What, this?" said Tenor surprised, holding up one of his hind legs. "Our local blacksmith back home made it."

"It seems to do wonders as far as blocking those arrows," said Hiccup.

"Oh yeah," said Tenor. "Of course it can't block everything, but it does the job against humans. Why're you so curious?"

"If we're going to rescue the others we're going to need protection like that," Hiccup said. Tenor exchanged a glance with Toothless and Snotlout.

"Well you can't use this armor," Tenor said. "It won't fit either dragon, it was custom fitted."

"No, Snotlout and I will make our own," said Hiccup. Snotlout looked surprised.

"Where are we supposed to find metal for it?" he asked frustrated. "And will you stop making that annoying chewing sound!?" He shouted at Tenor. The hybrid gave him a smug look, then spat green mush in Snotlout's face. Snotlout groaned and tried wiping the stuff out of his eyes.

"Nice shot PM," said Hookfang. Tenor beamed.

"We'll work out the armor tomorrow," said Hiccup. "For now we should get some rest, we'll need all the strength we can get." Tenor yawned and laid down on the sand. Hiccup and Snotlout settled down next to their dragons. They were all asleep in minuets.


	3. Night of the Hunters pt 2

**Night of the Hunters pt. 2**

* * *

The next morning Hiccup and Toothless were up before the others. They were worried about their friends. Hiccup was working out a plan of how they were getting dragon armor, strong and light enough. Tenor got his from Draconia, which was thousands of miles away. While he was pondering this Toothless and Tenor went fishing.

"Where are they going to find armor material?" Toothless asked.

"I don't know," said Tenor. "Getting it from my source is most likely out of the question since time is of the essence."

"Hiccup will come up with something," said Toothless. "He always does. He never gives up."

"I agree," said Tenor. They managed to catch a few fish. They brought it back to Hiccup, Snotlout and Hookfang. Hiccup was looking at his map. He looked like he'd come up with something. He turned to the two nightly dragons.

"Toothless you're getting your own armor," he said. He put the scroll in his saddlebags.

"Well, this I must see," said Tenor.

"Of course it won't be as nice as yours," said Hiccup.

"No, this is dragon made," Tenor said, admiring his armor fondly. "Now are we going or not?"

"Right, come on guys," said Hiccup, mounting Toothless. "We'll be doing some hard riding." They took off. They flew high over the ocean.

"Where are we going?" Tenor asked.

"You'll see," said Hiccup. They picked up speed.

They flew for miles nonstop. About half way there, Snotlout started getting winey. Hiccup ignored him best he could. He studied his map. Tenor didn't say anything. He was starting to wonder if his comrades had arrived at Dragon's Edge yet. Before long they closed in on several islands.

"Are we there yet?" wined Snotlout.

"No," said Hiccup annoyed. Snotlout moaned.

"Is that the island we're going to?" he asked.

"No," Hiccup snapped.

"How about that one?" said Snotlout, pointing at another island.

"For the last time, n... oh, actually yes that's it," said Hiccup. "My bad." He steered Toothless towards the island and the other two dragons followed. They landed. Snotlout recognized the large holes in the ground.

"Why did you bring us to an island filled with Whispering Deaths?" he asked, panicking.

"Because I knew you'd react like this," said Hiccup. "Besides, this island isn't filled with just Whispering Deaths. Someone else lives here." Right on cue, the ground shook violently. The giant, albino Screaming Death burst out of the ground, roaring loudly.

"The Screaming Death!?" Snotlout shouted. "Great, why don't we just fall over and have him kill us."

"Relax Snotlout," said Hiccup. "We're the ones who reunited him with his mother. Once he gets a good look at us, he'll recognize us and calm down."

"I don't know Hiccup, have you seen yourself lately?" Tenor said doubtfully. "You've changed a lot over the years." Hiccup said nothing, as the Screaming Death came barreling towards them. He didn't seem to be backing down at all.

"You know you may have a point Tenor," said Hiccup. "Retreat." The three dragons took off and the Screaming Death gave chase. They flew up and hid in the dense clouds. The Screaming Death lost them quiet fast.

"So we wait for it to tire out then go home right?" said Snotlout.

"No, we're going back down there," said Hiccup. "There's something in those tunnels that we need. Tenor can you occupy the Screaming Death?"

"Might I remind you the first time we met I was saving you from that thing," said Tenor.

"Okay, just keep him from returning to the tunnels until we're done," said Hiccup. Tenor rolled his eyes.

"Oh fine, but I still want to see those two in their armor," he said. "I'm not missing that for a second." He took off and flew at the Screaming Death. Meanwhile Snotlout and Hiccup flew their dragons into the tunnels. Both dragons flew through the dark tunnels, using Toothless's sonar.

"Did that Screaming Death seem bigger that before?" said Snotlout.

"Yes," said Hiccup. "That's what I was counting on. If he's this big, then he must have shed his skin. So there should be old scales somewhere around here. It'll be perfect for this project." With that they went back to searching. Soon they found a huge pile of white scales the size of a Night Terror. They landed.

"Jackpot," said Hiccup. "We better grab as many of these as possible and get out of here. I don't know how long Tenor can keep him busy."

"That dragon hates us," shouted Snotlout. "He clearly doesn't remember us." Hiccup quickly began gathering up the scales. They heard the Screaming Death outside. It sounded like Tenor was doing his job. But then the sounds got closer. Hiccup got nervous.

"I better go see if Tenor needs help," he said. "You and Hookfang gather these scales and get out of here." Suddenly they turned and saw the Screaming Death right behind him.

"Hiccup!" Snotlout shouted.

"Don't say it," Hiccup interrupted. The albino roared loudly. He was about to attack them, when a Whispering Death got between the albino and the Berkians. Hiccup sighed with relief.

"The Screaming Death might not remember us, but it looks like his mother does," he said. The female dragon smiled at them. The Screaming Death backed off and left. Hiccup petted the Whispering Death, and she purred.

"Now come on we've got to hurry," said Hiccup. With the local dragons out of their way the Berkians gathered all the white scales and flew them up to the surface. When they were finished, Hiccup looked around for Tenor. The hybrid was no where in sight.

"Tenor!?" Hiccup called. "Where are you?" Toothless spotted something dark on the light colored sand. He flew down and landed next to it, followed by Hookfang and Snotlout. Tenor lay unconscious, spreadeagled on the sand. Hiccup dismounted and rushed over to him. Toothless carefully nudged Tenor's head. He didn't move.

"Oh, great," Snotlout winded, sarcastically. "That Screaming Death killed our second best fighter." Tenor suddenly stirred and opened his eyes.

"I heard that Snotlout," he said weakly.

"Tenor, are you okay?" asked Hiccup. Tenor clutched his head, wincing in pain.

"Oooh, my head," he moaned. "And what's that buzzing noise?"

"What happened?" asked Hiccup. Tenor put his paws down, and shook his head.

"That scream has gotten a lot more powerful than last time," he said. "But luckily it doesn't feel like I broke anything." Then Snotlout spotted something small and dark on the sand near Tenor's head.

"Hey isn't that one of your teeth?" he asked pointing. Tenor sat up and felt around in his mouth. He felt a gap in his black teeth.

"Oh, that's unfortunate," he said. "But it'll grow back."

"You think you can still fight?" asked Hiccup. Tenor slowly got to his feet, groaning. He wobbled a bit.

"Uuuh, I think so," he said, clutching his head again. "Everything's still working. I just need to walk it off."

"Okay, you do that while Snotlout and I get to work on the dragon armor," said Hiccup.

"Good plan," Tenor said. He turned and walked off, still wobbling. Toothless joined him.

"I don't think I've seen you get defeated before," he said.

"Yeah well, you didn't see me in my earlier years," Tenor said. He was finally recovering. "That could have gotten worse. For a second I though I was going to regret leaving my dragon healer on Berk." Toothless murmured in agreement.

"Hey, I'm getting my own armor," he said. "So's Hookfang." Tenor beamed.

"It's really going to save your life," he said, admiring his armor again. "Trust me."

"I'm excited," Toothless said. "How do you think the others are doing?" Tenor considered.

"Well, I'm sure they're keeping themselves alive," he said. "Somehow." Toothless suddenly beamed.

"And we get to be their heroes in shining armor," he said valiantly. "I've always fancied that."

"Right you are cousin," said Tenor loudly. "Wow, if only my comrades could see me now." He chuckled. "Now lets go try on your new armor." They turned and went back to the others. Hiccup and Snotlout were still piecing together the scales. Hookfang watched casually. Tenor and Toothless sat next to him.

"How are you doing Tenor?" Hiccup asked.

"Rearing to go Hiccup," Tenor said.

"Great, we're almost done here," said Hiccup. "Thanks for you help."

"You're welcome," Tenor said.

"Sorry you got hurt," said Hiccup.

"I didn't get hurt, just stunned," Tenor clarified. "But thanks anyway." The two riders turned back to their task. The dragons watched silently. Tenor tightened the straps on his armor, making it nice and snug. He watched Snotlout stitching together the white scales.

"Wait, you knit." Tenor said.

"Why do you sound surprised?" Snotlout said annoyed. Tenor picked his teeth with his talon.

"I don't see you as the knitting type." he said, shrugging.

"Well I am, if you excuse me, I need to continue this." Snotlout said annoyed. Tenor made the go ahead gesture.

"Nothing unmanly about knitting," Hookfang reminded him.

"True," Tenor agreed.

Before long the armor was ready. Snotlout put Hookfang in his, and Hiccup put Toothless in his. Tenor watched, very interested. When all was finished Hiccup and Snotlout stood back to admire their work.

"You look good in that cousin," said Tenor. "You too Hooks."

"Thanks Tenor," said Hookfang.

"You think you can track down those hunters?" Hiccup asked Tenor.

"Oh sure," Tenor said. "Ships tend to move very slowly. I can locate them easily."

"Okay, then lead the way," said Hiccup. He and Snotlout mounted their dragons and took off. Tenor led the way back towards the hunters. When they got there they saw the other riders sweeping the deck.

"Okay, lets give this armor a test run," said Hiccup. "Tenor, while we take out the two support ships will you help get those guys out of there." Tenor laughed excitedly.

"I'm going to enjoy this," he said, mischievously. The three dragons dove at the ships. The hunters fired back with arrows and boulders. The dragon armor did its job all too well. The dragons shot the catapults while dodging the the arrows and boulders. Once they were out Tenor landed on the deck as the other riders attacked the hunters. Tenor turned to Astrid.

"Right on time," said Astrid.

"I usually am," Tenor said. "Who's in charge here?"

"His name's Ryker," said Astrid, pointing to the upper deck. Tenor followed her gaze. Dagur and Heather were up there, Tenor focused on the guy in the middle

"Who Baldy?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Astrid. "Heather and Dagur are working for him."

"Excellent," said Tenor, with a wild look in his eye. "I'm really going to enjoy this." Just then several hunters came running at them. Tenor gnashed his teeth and pounced on them, Astrid followed suit. They took all of them out. The other riders had knocked out several already, with air support from Hiccup and Snotlout. Astrid and Tenor were suddenly confronted by Heather.

"Nice of you join us Tenor," she sneered. Tenor winked at her.

"I'll handle this," said Astrid. "You go help the others."

"You got it," said Tenor, his eye on Ryker. He left those two and leapt onto the platform where Ryker stood.

"What are you?" Ryker asked, drawing his sword.

"What's up Baldy?" Tenor said, gnashing his black teeth. Ryker growled.

"You talk," he said.

"Ooooh, I can do far more then that," Tenor said. Quicker than a snake. Tenor snatched a nearby guard, and killed him with a quick bite to the neck with his venomous teeth. He dropped his kill at Ryker's feet. Then he turned and went to help the riders.

They managed to take out the crew of the ship. Then the riders went below to get their dragons. Tenor took off and joined Hiccup and Snotlout in the air. They fired at the other two ships. The dragon armor continued to perform beautifully. Soon the other riders blasted their way out of the ship. The hunters had no chance at stopping them. They joined the three other dragons in the air. They got out of there as fast as they could. They flew in formation and headed back to Dragon's Edge.

"Did I see Dagur on that ship?" said Hiccup. "Is he with the dragon hunters?"

"Not just Dagur," said Ruffnut excitedly.

"Hiccup we have a lot to talk about," said Astrid. "Heather's with them too." Hiccup paused in shocked silence.

"Why?" he asked.

"You said it yourself Dagur's her brother and the only family she's got left," Tenor pointed out. "And family is everything." Hiccup growled in frustration.

"You don't seem that concerned Tenor," said Astrid, suspiciously.

"Look, I haven't known Heather for as long as you guys," Tenor said innocently. "It's dragon instinct to not trust a human you barely know, weather dragon rider or dragon hunter." Somehow he managed to make random hand gestures while staying in mid air. No one had anything to say to that. Fishlegs was admiring Hookfang's armor.

"Screaming Death armor, it makes sense," he said. "Strongest scales of any dragon."

"Don't forget the Red Death," Tenor pointed out. "Her scales were impenetrable."

"But it looks heavy," said Fishlegs, as though Tenor hadn't spoken. "Maybe we could make it out of Gronkle Iron, now that I have the formula."

"Gronkle Iron?" said Tenor, curious.

"It's a new metal we discovered a while back," Hiccup explained. "It's stronger and lighter than regular iron."

"Huh," said Tenor thoughtfully. "Very interesting, very interesting indeed."

They continued onward. Astrid brought Hiccup up on what she and the other riders had found out about the hunters. Tenor kept quiet most of the time. He was looking forward to getting back to Dragon's Edge, and seeing his comrades. He was also looking forward to seeing his rider again.

Soon they reached the outpost. Re and Aurora were waiting beside the stables, dozing off. They were both wearing their armor. Serenity was leaning against Re's side, her hat over her eyes. They woke up as the riders landed.

"Hey Re, Aurora," Hiccup said as he dismounted.

"Hiccup, could that possibly be you?" said Re, looking Hiccup up and down.

"The one and only," said Hiccup.

"Wow, you're all grown up," said Aurora.

"Where've you all been?" Re asked. "We arrived here yesterday, Serenity was the only one here. Well, her and these Night Terrors."

"Little trouble with dragon hunters," said Tenor, as he landed beside his comrades.

"Ah, dragon hunters," said Aurora, with understanding tone. "Our citizens have faced plenty of those." Re looked at Toothless and Hookfang.

"Nice armor," he said.

"Thank you sire," said Hookfang.

"Anyway, how much of this outpost have you seen?" asked Hiccup.

"Just your stables, and Serenity's yurt and hiding place," said Re.

"Well we'll show you the rest of it," said Hiccup. "Then we'll show you the Dragon Eye."

"Dragon Eye?" said Aurora, interested. "Sounds like you've been a busy man."

"Don't worry it's not an actual dragon's eye," Hiccup clarified.

"Oh good," said Re. "Now about that tour." Astrid noticed that Tenor was looking uneasy. As the others walked off, taking Serenity with them, she went up to him.

"What's wrong Tenor?" she asked.

"Heather knows about Serenity," Tenor said. "And she probably told Daur about her."

"Actually she didn't," said Astrid. "She's still on our side. She just wants everyone to think that she joined Dagur so she can help us take them down." This surprised Tenor.

"That's awfully risky," he said. "And sneaky."

"Yes, she's willing to take the risk," said Astrid. "And she doesn't want Hiccup to know yet. He'll try to get her out of it. You think you can keep this secret." Tenor considered.

"All right," he said. "But I wouldn't be surprised if Hiccup worked it out himself."

"Neither would I," agreed Astrid. "You don't have to worry about Serenity, she's safe." Tenor sighed with relief.

"I'm glad of that," he said.

"Now lets go get something to eat," said Astrid. Tenor licked his lips in agreement. They hurried to catch up with the others.


	4. Bad Moon Rising

**Bad Moon Rising**

* * *

Gobber paid Dragon's Edge a visit so Fishlegs could give him the formula for Gronkle Iron. They made a target out of it so they could test it against the different dragon attacks. Each dragon shot fire at the target, including Tenor. Nothing made a dent. Re and Aurora were keeping Serenity company. Stormfly was about to take her shot when Tuffnut came hobbling into the arena covered in leaves and twigs. He seemed exhausted.

"Tuff, what's wrong with you?" asked Hiccup. Tuffnut was about to answer when Stormfly shot the target behind him with her spines, knocking it over onto Tuffnut. He passed out when he hit the ground. Hiccup turned to Tenor.

"Do you think Serenity can examine him?" he asked.

"She only does dragons," said Tenor. "And it's pretty obvious he was just wandering around the woods all night, for Draco knows what reason."

"Good point," said Hiccup. They hauled Tuffnut up to the clubhouse on Tenor's back. When they got him up there he'd woken up enough to babble about something attacking him.

"Can you remember anything about what attacked you?" asked Fishlegs.

"It was too fas, and ferocious," Tuffnut drawled. "I need another adjective."

"How about, imaginary," Snotlout snickered. They all laughed.

"Laugh all you want," said Tuffnut. "But would an imaginary beast give you one of these?" He held up his arm, showing them a fresh bite mark. Everyone stopped laughing.

Fishlegs checked his dragon notes. He looked through the Book of Dragons, Bork's papers, and the Dragon Eye. He found nothing and grew quite frustrated.

"I can't find anything," he said. "Not in the Book of Dragons, Bork's papers, not even the Dragon Eye." Tenor narrowed his eyes.

"Whoa wait, your looking for a dragon?" he asked, confused. "You know there are other animals in the world with sharp teeth."

"But there are mostly dragons on this island," said Fishlegs.

"Oh, it was a dragon alright," Gobber said suddenly. "But it won't be in any of those notes. It's clear we're all thinking the same thing."

"Umm, we're clearly not," Hiccup pointed out. "But why don't you enlighten us." Gobber sneered.

"Likenwing," he said.

"Likenwing?" said Hiccup.

"It's a rare dragon," said Gobber. "But vicious. Those who survive its bite, are not actually survivors at all. They are doomed to live life as half man, half Likenwing. At the hight of every full moon the condemned viking transforms into a huge dragon. Wings as big as houses, teeth stronger that Gronkle Iron, and a thirst for blood." They all gasped at this, everyone except Hiccup and the dragons.

"Come on the Likenwing is a myth," said Hiccup.

"Isn't that what you said about the Boneknapper?" Tenor asked.

"The Boneknapper is documented in the Book of Dragons, and this Likenwing isn't," Hiccup said.

"Still you shouldn't underestimate our world," said Tenor. "There's several dragons out there that you've never heard of."

"Have you ever seen or heard of this Likenwing?" Hiccup asked. Tenor opened his mouth as though to argue, but realized he had no argument to give. He closed his mouth and got to his feet.

"Fair enough," he said. "Well, speaking of the moon. I'm late for my hunt. I'll see you later." He left the clubhouse. Gobber stood in his way.

"You sure it's safe to go out there with that Likenwing on the loose?" he asked. Tenor snorted.

"Well, I don't think I have to worry about turning into a dragon, now do I?" he said. He shoved passed Gobber, spread his wings, and took off.

He flew over the forest. The moon was a waxing gibbous. Moonlight shone on his black scales. He had taken off his armor so he could stay stealthy. He scanned the forest for prey. As he did so, he occasionally glanced up at the moon. He silently hoped they found the Likenwing. He figured he would get along well with it. He'd never really had a best friend in dragon society. Re and Aurora were good to him. But he had never had someone to really identify with. The closest he had was his beloved rider. He figured if he couldn't have a mate, then maybe he could have a best friend that was a dragon. That thought was stropped when he suddenly spotted prey down below.

The next day Tuffnut had been convinced by Snotlout that he was turning into a Likenwing. He had shut himself into on of the dragon stalls. Gobber and the riders tried to talk sense into him, but to no result. Just then they were joined by Fishlegs and Meatlug.

"Hiccup, look what Meatlug found," he exclaimed. He pulled out a Dragon Eye lens. "It's the one you found with Gustave." Hiccup beamed.

"Fishlegs, we've got to see what's on it," he said excitedly. "We should ask Tenor to help us too." Fishlegs nodded in agreement. They both mounted their dragons and went off to find Tenor.

They found him on a cliff near the yurt. They landed in front of him. He had just dug into a freshly killed boar, that he had skinned. It was quite gory.

"Oh, that is disgusting," moaned Fishlegs.

"Well, what'd you expect?" said Tenor, gnawing on the boar's flesh. "I'm a predator."

"Hey Tenor," Hiccup said.

"Yes what?" Tenor asked, without looking up. He ripped off a huge chunk of meat and swallowed hit whole.

"Fishlegs found the Dragon Eye lens," said Hiccup. "We think it may give us some answers about the Likenwing." Tenor ripped off another chunk of meat and looked up.

"I thought you said the Likenwing was a myth," he said.

"Yeah, well you made an excellent point yesterday," said Hiccup. "We don't know how many dragons are out there. And I'm determine to find as many new dragons as I can." Tenor considered.

"Am I allowed to finish this boar?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah," said Hiccup. "Just be at my hut this evening." Tenor nodded, then turned back to his kill. Hiccup and Fishlegs turned and left.

Later that evening Tenor flew to Hiccup's hut. He was greeted by Hiccup, Fishlegs and their dragons. The Dragon Eye was on the table.

"Hey, thanks for coming Tenor," said Hiccup.

"Sure," said Tenor. "But, why do you need me? You have other friends."

"The other dragons and riders are somewhat occupied," said Fishlegs. "With Tuffnut thinking he's turning into a dragon."

"Oh," said Tenor. "I see." They got to work. Hiccup put the new lens into the Dragon Eye. They turned the dials, pressed the buttons, and used the fire of all three dragons. But the Dragon Eye showed them nothing. By the time they got to the last combination, the sun had set and the full moon was out. Fishlegs slammed it down on the table in frustration.

"I've tried every combination in the Dragon Eye," he said. "There's nothing." But then Hiccup noticed the Dragon Eye was pointed in the direction of the full moon. Moonlight shone through the Dragon Eye, and out the other end. Hiccup picked it up.

"Let's try this," he said. He held the Dragon Eye in front of Toothless, who lit up his mouth. Images projected onto the wall. Tenor perked his ears up. The images depicted a stick figure with dragon wings.

"That's peculiar," said Tenor.

"I'm I crazy, or is that a man with dragon wings instead of arms?" said Hiccup.

"Dragon wings are arms," Tenor pointed out.

"No, your not crazy," said Fishlegs, all his focus on the images. He turned the dials on the Dragon Eye, another images appeared. It showed the stick figure with a dragon head and tail, in addition to the wings.

"Fishlegs, can you make any of this out?" asked Hiccup, looking at the writing above the images. Fishlegs read the writing.

"No man shall tread upon these shores, lest he become what he is most feared," he read. "That must be Likenwing Island." Hiccup turned to Tenor.

"Does this mean anything to you Tenor?" he asked.

"Yeah, that these Dragon Eye manufactures suck at riddles," Tenor said smartly. "But other than that, no."

"Hiccup this Likenwing could be well, not a myth," said Fishlegs. Hiccup considered.

"That island's not far from here," he said, smirking.

"Oh, why do I get the feeling we're going on a Hiccup, Fishlegs recon mission," groaned Fishlegs. Tenor looked at him.

"You confuse me Fishlegs," he said. "You get all excited about meeting new dragons, but then when you meet it you're not so excited. And this time you're not even excited."

"If this dragon bites us we turn into dragons," said Fishlegs.

"So?" said Tenor.

"Not that that's a bad thing," said Fishlegs quickly, spotting his raised eyebrow. "We just prefer to stay human is all."

"Suit yourself," said Tenor.

"Say, do you think Serenity would like to come with us to Likenwing Island?" asked Hiccup. "She's been cooped up for a really long time." Tenor perked his ears up.

"I'm sure she would," he said. "I'll go ask her and meet you at the stables." He spread his wings and flew off.

He went back to the yurt. Re and Aurora were asleep outside. Tenor went inside. Serenity was laying in bed asleep. Tenor carefully nudged her. She fluttered her eyes open.

"Tenor," she said in sleepy surprise.

"Sorry to wake you lovely," Tenor whispered. "But I was wondering if you wanted to come meet a new dragon with us." Serenity sat up.

"Who's us?" she asked.

"Hiccup, Fishlegs, Toothless, Meatlug, and myself," said Tenor. Serenity sat up and pulled on her boots.

"Alright," she said. "I miss flying at night anyway." She put on her hat and jacket. She followed him outside. She mounted him and they took off.

They landed outside the stables where Hiccup, Fishlegs and Toothless were waiting.

"Thanks for jointing us Serenity," said Hiccup.

"I've been hoping for a field trip for some time," said Serenity. "Now what dragon are we going after?"

"It's called a Likenwing," said Fishlegs. "We thing Tuffnut got bitten by one and is now turning into a dragon." Tenor rolled his eyes.

"I still don't think it was a dragon," he said. But he followed them into the stables towards Meatlug's stall.

"If we fine this Likenwing, we're going to need a plan," said Hiccup.

"How about don't get bitten," said Fishlegs as he let Meatlug out.

"Serenity do you think you can prevent him from attacking us?" asked Hiccup.

"That's what I'm good at," said Serenity. Hiccup and Fishlegs mounted their dragons and they took off.

They followed a map Fishlegs had copied off the Dragon Eye. They flew in silence. They were soon approaching the island. They landed in front of a dark cave. The riders dismounted.

"What color do you thing this dragon is?" Serenity asked.

"Well he's a nightly dragon like me," said Tenor. "So I'm thinking black, or dark blue. With some silver on him. Kind of like a Skrill."

"Toothless, give us some light," said Hiccup. Toothless shot a plasma blast into the cave. Silence followed. Then suddenly they were swarmed by bats. Once they were out of the way. They entered the cave. Fishlegs spotted writing on the cave wall.

"Beware the beast," he read. "Turn back now before you become him, your fate is sealed. You hear that Hiccup? Our fate is sealed."

"Calm down Fishlegs, it's just an old cave drawing," said Hiccup.

"Besides, no one can turn humans into dragons except for Lord Draco," said Tenor. "Unless this Likenwing is Draco in disguise." Suddenly Toothless growled at the cave wall. They all followed his gaze. There was a shadow of what seemed to be a bat-like dragon, with one silver eye. They all stared at it. Serenity looked around for what was casting the shadow. She saw a stone cut in the shape of a dragon, with two Dragon Eye lenses for it's eyes.

"Um, Hiccup, I found you Likenwing," she said. They turned to see the stone. They were no doubt surprised by this. They went over and Hiccup and Fishlegs pried the lenses free.

"Well, Hiccup. It seems you were right about it being a myth for once," said Tenor.

"Lets get back and tell the others," said Hiccup. They mounted their dragons and headed back to Dragon's Edge.

They landed at the stables. Tenor flew Serenity back to the yurt and let her go back to bed. She sat in her chair, no longer tired. Tenor flew to the stables and joined the others, just as Gobber came out.

"How's Tuff?" asked Hiccup.

"Gone," said Gobber. "He and that chicken flew the coop."

"Why didn't you stop him?" asked Hiccup, concerned.

"I was a bit busy extracting sea snake venom out of Snotlout," said Gobber.

"Well, we should tell Ruffnut," said Hiccup.

"She's gone too," said Gobber. "She went to look for her brother, took Snotlout with her." Hiccup and Fishlegs got back on their dragons, rounded up Astrid and Stormfly, and went after the Twins and Snotlout. Tenor was right behind them.

They found the Twins high on a cliff near Serenity's yrut. Tuffnut was right on the edge. He was still convinced he was turning into a dragon.

"Tuff, stop," Hiccup called as the rider landed and dismounted. "There is no metamorphosis, you are not turning into a dragon." Tuffnut did not look convinced.

"It's true," said Fishlegs. "We found the Likenwing cave. It was just a myth to keep people away from these." He held up the Dragon Eye lenses.

"Then how do you explain this?" asked Tuffnut, holding up his bitten arm. No one spoke. But then Snotlout joined them, dragging a wiggling back.

"I can explain it," he announce, out of breath.

"What's in that bag?" asked Hiccup, uneasily.

"The thing that did this," said Snotlout. He held up his arm, where they saw a bite mark similar to Tuffnut's.

"The Likenwing got you too," said Tuffnut, shocked.

"It's not a Likenwing," said Snotlout. "It's not even a dragon. It's a wolf and I caught him. You are not turning into a dragon." Tuffnut breathed a sigh of relief.

"I didn't know you had wolves out here," said Tenor. Suddenly the edge of cliff where Tuffnut was standing and he fell. Toothless was quick to act and grabbed Tuff by his foot and pulled him back up. Tuff got to his feet and brushed himself off, before Ruffnut hugged him. But then Hiccup noticed the bag was empty.

"Um, Snotlout where's the wolf?" he asked. They all looked around for it. Then suddenly there came a high pitched scream. Tenor tensed up.

"Oh, no," he growled through his teeth. "Serenity." He took off and headed for the yurt.

When he got there. Serenity was no where inside. Re and Aurora were on their feet. Tenor landed next to them.

"Where'd she go?" Tenor asked.

"When the wolf came our way she took off running," said Re. "And the wolf went after her." He pointed in the direction she had gone. Tenor took off.

Serenity ran through the dark woods, stumbling with every step. She could hear the wolf behind her, it was catching up. A huge wave of deja vu came over her. She had almost been killed by a pack of wolves when she was nine. She never though her worst nightmare would come back to get her. The only thing she feared just as much as humans were wolves. Suddenly she tripped and stumbled down a steep slope. When she landed on the bottom face down, the wolf pounced on top of her. She screamed as is dug its claws and teeth into her skin.

"Help!" she cried desperately. She tried to escape but the wolf held her down with his claws. Then it grabbed her by the ankle and dragged he backwards. She kept calling for help. But then the wolf paused and she was able to free her foot. She got up and started running again. By now she was very lost, and had no idea where the outpost was. But she ran as fast as she could, the wolf still behind her. She was getting tired, half from running and half from pure terror. Suddenly the wolf, somehow had gotten a head of her, and jumped out at her. It hit her full in the face, claws and teeth out. It knocked her over and scratched and bit at her again. She had several bleeding cuts on her face and torso she curled into a ball. Suddenly a plasma blast hit the ground near by. The wolf was shoved off. Serenity heard a dragon fly off with it.

Tenor landed in the clearing where Serenity was curled in a ball, shaking. Having killed and disposed off the wolf he was now able to turn his attention to her. The other riders and dragons landed as well. Re and Aurora were among them. Tenor nudged his rider, she didn't move. She was still shaking.

"Serenity, it's okay now," he said. Serenity slowly sat up. When she saw the dragons and no wolf she relaxed, still breathing hard.

"Boy, am I glad to see you guys," she panted.

"Are you okay?" Tenor asked. Serenity took a minuet to catch her breath.

"He got me," she said. Tenor examined her wounds. They weren't deep but they were bleeding.

"Why did it have to be a wolf and not a Likenwing?" Serenity asked.

"I don't know love," Tenor said.

"Why'd it go after her?" asked Hiccup.

"Because she ran," said Re. "Animals can always sense fear, and will chase you if you run. Dragons are no exception."

"Come on, lets get back," said Aurora. "The moon is already setting." Tenor turned to Serenity.

"You think you can ride?" he asked. Serenity nodded, still trying to catch her breath. Then she hugged his head.

"Thank you," she said gratefully. Tenor purred and nuzzled her. He helped her to her feet. She held her right foot off the ground, her ankle still hurt where the wolf had bitten her. Tenor helped her onto his back. The dragons headed back towards the outpost. Serenity leaned back on the saddle, resting her head on her medical bag. She was so exhausted she fell asleep at once.

"Why did she run?" asked Astrid.

"Because she's terrified of wolves," said Re. "When she was nine years old she was attacked by a whole pack of wolves. They almost killed her. She was so badly hurt, that if we had waited 'til morning to take her home, she wouldn't have made it. This time it wasn't as bad."

"She never told us that," said Hiccup.

"It's not a memory she likes to revisit," said Tenor. He turned Re and spoke in Dragontongue. "Should I tell them about the dragon's blood in her veins."

"No," said Re. "We'll let her tell that secret. I her own good time." At that moment they arrived back at the outpost. They landed next to the yurt. Tenor roused Serenity. She sat up, groaning slightly. Aurora helped her down. She winced when her injured leg hit the ground.

"Thanks for your help," Tenor said to the riders.

"Likewise," said Hiccup. "Pity there was no new dragon to meet."

"Oh well," Tenor said. "But like I said, there's loads of new dragons out there to meet."

"You guys heading for Berk tomorrow?" asked Hiccup.

"Yup," said Re. "Got to take Gobber back."

"Even after Serenity got attacked by a wolf?" asked Astrid.

"That's what Tenor's for," said Re proudly. "She'll be perfectly safe with him." Serenity yawned, she was leaning heavily on Aurora.

"Well we should get her patched up," said the queen.

"Right," said Hiccup. "We'll be turning in too." They disbursed. Tenor went off hunting, while the moon was still high. Aurora helped Serenity inside, she limped the whole way. Re followed them inside. And the riders went to their respective huts.


	5. Snotlout Gets the Ax

**Snotlout gets the Ax**

* * *

Tenor watched the riders practice ax throwing. He was snacking on a basket of roasted newts. At the moment Snotlout and Hookfang were throwing the ax. There were targets all around the arena. All was going well until a target fell onto Hookfang's tail. He came to an abrupt halt, throwing Snotlout to the ground.

"Good effort Snotlout," said Hiccup. "Astrid, your up." Astrid went over to Stromfly. Hiccup turned to Tenor.

"How's Serenity doing?" he asked. Tenor swallowed a mouthful of newts before answering.

"She's still recovering from that wolf attack," he said. "It gives her nightmares and she still has a limp. But she's healing."

"You left her alone?" asked Hiccup. Re and Aurora were currently on Berk helping Stoic with the dragons of Berk.

"She's not alone," said Tenor. "She's got a few Night Terrors keeping her company." He stuck his nose into the basket again and pull out another mouthful of news. Just then Spitlout landed his Nadder in the arena and dismounted.

"Spitlout, what do we owe this visit?" said Hiccup.

"I bring news from Berk," said Spitlout, in a very good mood. "There is to be a union tomorrow. Between our house, House Jorgonson and Astrid's house, House Hofferson." This surprised everyone.

"That's unprecedented," said Fishlegs. "There's never been a union between these two houses. Hofferson has always disliked Jorgonson."

"And Jorgonsons have always irritated Hoffersons," said Astrid. Tenor swallowed his next mouthful of newts.

"I'm glad I'm dragon," he said. He saw that his basket was empty. "Well, I'm going to check on Serenity." He spread his wings and took off.

He landed next to the yurt. Serenity was sitting in her chair. A few Night Terrors were perched on the roof. Serenity had her leg propped on a log, her boot off, and her ankle wrapped in bandages. There were also bandages on her arms and face.

"Hey, how are you doing?" Tenor asked.

"I'm okay," said Serenity. "It hurts to move my foot though." She tried to flex her ankle but winced. Tenor nuzzled her gently.

"You want to try walking around?" he asked. Serenity sighed. She picked up a stick and carefully pulled her foot off the log. She slowly got to her feet, using the stick as a crutch.

"That wolf had strong jaws," she said, wincing. "Bit right through my ankle bone."

"It's not permanent is it?" Tenor asked.

"No," said Serenity. "But, it will be a while before I can walk properly again." She limped up to him. "I should probably make myself a decent crutch." Tenor let her lean on him.

"I could be a good crutch," he said.

"You're not around very much though," said Serenity. "You're usually out doing your job." Tenor wrapped a wing around her.

"Hey, I'm sorry," he said. Serenity hugged him back. "Well, I'm not going anywhere for a while. Do you think you can still ride?" Serenity sighed.

"I don't know," she said. "Maybe if you go easy on me." Tenor let her go and knelt down. Serenity got on mounted him bareback. He got to his feet. He walked along the cliff. Serenity enjoyed it, it was better than limping. Just then they were joined by Spitlout.

"Tenor, Re wants you to be the dragon representative at this union," he said. Tenor seemed surprised.

"Alright," he said. "This'll be interesting." With that Spitlout took off.

Tenor went back to the yurt and Serenity dismounted. She limped over to her chair and sat down, putting her foot back on the log. Tenor put her walking stick next to the chair, and laid down on the grass. Serenity put her hat over he eyes and dozed off. Just then Hiccup and Astrid came up to them, followed by their dragons.

"Hey Tenor," said Hiccup. "Looks like you're going to be cursed to attend this union as well."

"Yup," Tenor said.

"Are you bringing her?" asked Astrid, looking at Serenity. Tenor looked at her as well.

"I'm not sure she can make it," he said. "Her foot is still healing." Stormfly nudged Serenity. She woke up and stroked the Nadder's beak.

"Hey, do you want to go to this viking union?" Stormfly asked. Serenity sat up carefully.

"I'd probably slow you all down with this," she said, gesturing to her wounded foot.

"How bad is it?" asked Hiccup.

"The wolf bit through my ankle bone," said Serenity. "It'll heal by itself, but it still hurts to walk on it."

"You should come anyway," said Tenor. "So I don't have to leave you again."

"Okay," Serenity sighed.

"We'll be leaving tomorrow morning," said Hiccup.

"Ok," said Tenor. They left and Tenor and Serenity dozed off again.

The next day all who were going to Berk gathered in the clubhouse. Serenity had redressed her wounded foot. She had also used several sticks and tied them together to make a good, sturdy crutch. Then she mounted Tenor, bareback, with her medical bag and crutch. They flew to the clubhouse. They met up with Astrid, Hiccup, Snotlout, and their dragons. Snotlout was holding a huge ax. It had an abstract design on the blade. Once it was secure, they took off. They headed towards Berk. Snotlout seemed to be in a sour mood. Astrid turned to Serenity.

"How come you didn't bring your saddle?" she asked.

"The stirrups hurt my ankle," said Serenity. "Plus this way, I can ride without putting weight on it." She reached down to make sure the bandage was secure. Suddenly Snotlout was tossing the ax from hand to hand, and slipped from his grip and fell towards the island below.

"Toothless, power dive," Hiccup commanded. The dragons, except Tenor, dove after the ax. But they saw no sign of it.

"We have to go down there," said Snotlout. "We have to find that ax."

"How?" asked Astrid. "That island's not exactly tiny, if it even landed there and not in the ocean."

"We're finding that ax," said Snotlout. "We have 'til sundown." They flew down and landed on the island. The riders dismounted, except for Serenity. They walked through the woods, looking for the ax. Suddenly Snotlout spotted it ahead. It appeared to be stuck in the bushes.

"There it is," said Snotlout. "I'll just grab it and we'll get back up in the air." He went over to the ax and tried to pull it free. The dragons suddenly growled and tensed up. The ground around Snotlout shook. He tried again to pull it free, but the ground shook again. Then a huge dragon rose up and threw Snotlout to the ground. The dragon was a Boneknapper with armor made of metal instead of bones. It looked at the intruders and roared loudly. The ax was stuck between his back spines. Snotlout ran onto the dragon's back and tried to get his ax. The dragon roared and tried to buck him off.

"Snotlout let go of the ax," Hiccup shouted.

"No," shouted Snotlout. "I'm not leaving this island without it." Suddenly the wild dragon took off with Snotlout hanging on for dear life. Serenity carefully dismounted and got her crutch down. Astrid and Hiccup mounted their dragons and took off, Tenor and Hookfang followed. The found the wild dragon still trying to get Snotlout off his back. All three dragon shot fire at it, but the wild one blocked all the fire with his wings. Then he shot back at them. The riders flew their dragons in erratic patterns, while Hookfang continued to fire. Then the wild dragon shot at Stormfly it missed, but had gone inches passed her face. Stormfly had suddenly gone temporarily blind, seeing nothing but fuzzy shadows. She panicked and flew to the ground. Astrid quickly dismounted and inspected her dragon's eyes.

"Stormfly, what's wrong?" she asked. Stromfly blinked rapidly and didn't focus on Astrid.

"Hang in there," Astrid said, slightly panicky. "Hiccup! that fire blast does a number on the eyes."

"Good to know," Hiccup called back as Toothless dodged another blast. Suddenly the wild dragon managed to hit Toothless in the face with his fire blast. The Night Fury was suddenly blinded. He panicked and accidentally bucked Hiccup off, which caused them both to crash. Hiccup quickly ran to his dragon, who was pawing at his eyes. Hiccup could only examine him for a few seconds before the wild dragon landed and readied another blast. Hiccup grabbed his shield and put in front of him. The dragon fired. The blast hit the shield, but not Hiccup or Toothless. Soon the dragon gave up. Hiccup beamed at the shield.

"Thank you Gronkle Iron," he said. The wild dragon suddenly charged at them, still with Snotlout clinging to the ax. Hookfang and Tenor came to the rescue. They fired at the wild dragon. It roared in outrage and took off, throwing Snotlout to the ground. Tenor and Hookfang landed. Toothless and Stormfly got their vision back. Snotlout got to his feet and looked in the direction the dragon had gone. He ran off as fast as he could, before the others could stop him. Hookfang followed him. Hiccup turned to Astrid, and she read the look on his face.

"No," she said strongly.

"Oh come on Astrid," said Tenor. "What are you so afraid of? We outnumber that dragon. And I brought my dragon healer who can make negotiations if needed." Astrid sighed and gave in. The two riders mounted their dragons and took off, Tenor close behind.

They found Snotlout near a tall cliff, hidden in the shrubs. Hiccup and Astrid dismounted and joined him. Tenor climbed into the trees and watched from up higher. The wild dragon was outside its cave, surrounded by piles of metal. It picked up a sheet of metal, put it on its back, and welded it to the rest of its armor. Snotlout looked at the ax, still attached to the dragon's back.

"If it welds that ax I'll never get it back," he said. He was about to rush out when Hiccup stopped him.

"Snotlout we can't risk another dust storm with old Armorwing over there," he said, gesturing to the dragon. Snotlout growled in frustration.

"I can't go to that wedding without the ax," he said.

"Be we can't get close to it," Astrid pointed out. Suddenly Snotlout beamed.

"Do you guys know what's near here?" he said excitedly. "Hiccup hand me your map." Hiccup pulled out his map and handed it to Snotlout. He unrolled it and glanced at it.

"Guys, we're going to Breakneck Bog," he announced. "And wrangling us up some Smothering Smokebreaths." The riders mounted their dragons.

"Tenor you coming?" asked Hiccup. Tenor sighed.

"Alright," he said, jumping down from the trees. "But I want to tell Serenity where I'm going. I won't be a minuet." He took off and headed back to where he had left his rider.

He found her sitting on a fallen tree, looking bored. Tenor landed in front of her. The others were circling overhead. Serenity smiled when she saw her rider.

"Serenity we're headed to Breakneck Bog," Tenor said. "You can come if you want."

"It sounds like you're in a hurry," said Serenity. "I'll just slow you down. You go ahead, I'll be okay here." She scrunched her face up, her ankle was really hurting her. Tenor looked at her with a sad face.

"You sure?" he asked. Serenity nodded, still wincing.

"I don't think I can handle, hard flying," she said, panting. Tenor sighed and nuzzled her.

"Alright," he said. "Please be careful. Try to move around as much as you can." Serenity hugged him. Then Tenor stepped back, spread his wings, and took off. He flew off with the others. Serenity sat on the tree for a few minuets and waited for the pain to subside. When it did, she grabbed her crutch and slowly got to her feet. Leaning heavily on her crutch she limped through the woods, putting weight on her foot whenever she could. She didn't need to worry about getting lost, her crutch left behind a trail for her to follow back.

She kept going in a straight line. She didn't meet anything the whole time, and for that she was grateful. Suddenly she stumbled on the Armorwing's lair. She saw him lounging about after the fight. He continued to weld bits of metal to his armor. Serenity stepped on a twig and froze. The Armorwing looked up and saw her. He growled and gnashed his teeth.

"Who are you?" he barked. "And what do you want?" Serenity took a few deep breaths, the pain in her foot was coming back.

"I'm sorry," she said, she was panting slightly again. "I didn't mean to intrude. I'm trying to get this foot active." She moved her injured foot a bit, and hissed in pain. Naturally the Armorwing grew surprised. Serenity turned to go on her way, not wanting to anger him.

"Wait, you don't have to go," he said. "What's your name girl?" Serenity took more deep breaths.

"I'm Serenity, what's yours?" she said.

"Bandit," said the Armorwing. "What happened to you foot?"

"I got attacked by a wolf three nights ago," said Serenity. "Bit me in the ankle and dragged me through the woods. Bit right through my ankle bone and it hurts." She leaned heavily on her crutch and lifted her foot off the ground. Bandit considered for a few minuets.

"Well, I know very little about healing," he said.

"That's okay," said Serenity. "I just need a place to sit down." Bandit gestured towards a metal chair at the base of one of the piles. Serenity limped over to it and sat down.

"Thank you," she said.

"Sure," said Bandit. "I've twisted my ankle a few times, so I know a few things about what you're going through." He went over and laid beside her.

"You with those other humans?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Serenity. "I ride the black dragon in armor. We're from Draconia the two of us." Bandit looked surprised.

"The homeland," he said.

"Yes," said Serenity.

"Why come out here?" asked Bandit. Serenity sighed.

"There are many dragons out here who aren't as fortunate as the ones back home," she said. "I want to help them. And Tenor's looking for a mate. None of the female dragons back home want anything to do with him because he's so different."

"Hmm," said Bandit. "He did look rather odd. Must be hard for him."

"Very," Serenity agreed. "He's a good dragon though. He's saved my life a number of times."

"He's got some fine looking armor on him," said Bandit. Serenity smiled, laughing softly.

"Don't Boneknappers usually have bone armor?" she asked.

"Usually," said Bandit. "But I've discovered that metal works better."

"Oh," said Serenity. "That's what the dragons back home say." Bandit nodded.

"So, what do those humans want?" he asked.

"An ax you recently found," said Serenity. "It's on your back." Bandit looked over his wing at the ax.

"Oh, well if you want it," he said.

"Well I don't," Serenity said. "I hate weapons." Bandit tilted his head.

"In that case, if they want it they can fight me for it," he said. He saw the worried look on her face. "Don't worry I'll make sure I won't hit you."

"Okay, just make sure there are no other injuries," said Serenity. "I love those dragons." Bandit lowered his head to her level.

"Alright," he said.

"I know I haven't done anything for you," said Serenity. "And that you have no reason to trust me."

"Hey, no human has ever treated me this nicely," Bandit said. "I won't kill your friends and I'll try not to hurt them too badly. If you think they won't hurt me."

"No, they won't," said Serenity. "Hiccup would never hurt a dragon on purpose. And if someone does get hurt."

"I know you'll hold be responsible," said Bandit.

"No, I'll help them," Serenity corrected. "I'm a dragon healer."

"Oh, really?" said Bandit, surprised again. "Well you're full of surprises." Serenity smiled again. Then she yawned, she'd worn herself out with all that limping. Bandit tilted his head again.

"You're exhausted," he said.

"I've been limping through the woods for a mile," said Serenity. "It's not been an easy week for me." Bandit lowered his head further and she stroked his snout. He purred at her touch.

"Here come inside and you can get some rest," he said. Serenity got to her feet and leaned on her crutch. Bandit helped her into his cave, where there were more piles of metal. Serenity sat down on another chair. Bandit sat next to her. He went back to welding bits of metal to his armor.

A half and hour later a commotion came from outside. Bandit jumped to his feet roaring. He went outside. A flock of Smothering Smokebreathes were swarming his hoard of metal, and picking up items. Bandit roared. When the little dragons saw him, their eyes lit up and they started swarming him. The riders sat on their dragons and watched, Tenor was close by. Snotlout kept his eye on the ax. One of grey dragons grabbed it and flew off with it. Snotlout steered Hookfang after him. He tried to get the ax but failed. Astrid and Stormfly pulled up alongside.

"Keep it up Snotlout," said Astrid. "We'll funnel him towards you." She steered Stormfly after the Smokebreath. They herded it back towards Snotlout and Hookfang. When it was close enough, Snotlout snatch his ax and held it high in victory.

Hiccup meanwhile was looking down at the Armorwing. It was being overwhelmed by the Smokebreaths. They kept pulling apart his armor.

"There's too many," said Hiccup. "We have to break this up." He and Tenor moved in closer to the Armorwing. He saw a Smokebreath pull off a big slab of metal, and saw a patch of scaleless, pink skin.

"No scales, that's why it needs metal," said Hiccup.

"Well it is the next best thing," said Tenor. Just then they were joined by Snotlout and Astrid.

"What's happening?" asked Astrid.

"The Smokebreaths think the Armorwing is one giant piece of metal," Hiccup explained. "We can't let them pull it armor off, it'll be defenseless."

"Well, what do you plan to do then?" asked Tenor. Hiccup steered Toothless towards the piles of metal. Toothless picked up a few items. The other dragons followed suit.

"We have to fly them through the Armorwing's blasts," Hiccup instructed.

"Are you serious?" said Astrid.

"Just trust me," said Hiccup. They all steered their dragons towards the Armorwing. Whenever it shot fire at the Smokebreaths the riders turned their dragons in such a way so the fire would weld the metal together. Tenor helped as well, while warding off the Smokebreaths that kept trying to get his armor. Before long the riders had a huge ball of metal. Toothless held it in his paws.

"Hey smokies, get a load of that," said Snotlout pointing at it. The Smokebreaths saw the ball of metal, and their eyes lit up again. They left the Armorwing and carried it off. When they were out of sight, everyone turned to the Armorwing. He had slumped to the ground, exhausted and defeated. The riders and dragons exchanged a quiet glance. The dragons gathered up one metal item each and brought it over to the Armorwing. He looked from the items to the dragons, and back again.

"It's the least we could do," said Stormfly. "We're very sorry about all this." The Armorwing took the metal and welded it to the rest of his armor. When he was done he turned back to the riders and their dragons. He was no longer angry at them.

"Well I thing we earned his trust," said Hiccup. "But I wouldn't push our luck." Just then Astrid saw what position the sun was in.

"Sundown," she said. "Snotlout you have to go." Snotlout hesitated.

"She's right, go," said Hiccup. "We'll be right behind you." Snotlout turned Hookfang towards the open sky and took off. Astrid, Hiccup, and the remaining dragons continued helping the Armorwing get his armor back together. When they were finished, the Armorwing turned to Tenor.

"Are you Tenor, hybrid?" he asked.

"Yes that's me," said Tenor.

"I have something of yours," said the Armorwing. "Wait there." He turned and went back into his cave.

"What did he say?" asked Astrid.

"He has something of mine," said Tenor. They all waited for a few minuets. Then the Armorwing came back out, supporting Serenity. Tenor breathed a sigh of relief.

"Serenity," he said, happily. Serenity smiled through her pain.

"Hello," she said. "Did you get the ax?"

"Yeah we did," said Hiccup. "I take it you made a new friend."

"I did, his name's Bandit," said Serenity, scratching behind the Armorwing's horn. Bandit groaned with pleasure.

"Well, we have to go," said Hiccup. "It's sundown."

"Oh, okay," said Serenity, she sounded sad about it. Bandit turned to her.

"I hope to see you again," he said. "When your ankle is healed."

"You can be sure of that," said Serenity, then she hugged him. "Thank you." She then limped over to Tenor and he helped her onto his back. They turned and left the Armorwing in peace.

They caught up with Snotlout halfway to Berk. They flew in silence as the sun went down. When they got there the moon and stars were out. They landed on the beach were the union was supposed to be. But when they got there, they found it deserted and in shambles.

"Wow, must have been some event," Tenor said. Snotlout went over to where Spitlout was standing. Everyone waited. But for some reason Spitelout was in a very good mood. He didn't seem at all upset that the ax arrived late. Then he announced that the union had been canceled due to a fight that had broken out. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Serenity yawned.

"Come on, let's get back to Dragon's Edge," said Hiccup.

"Agreed," said Tenor. "I need another bucket of newts after that." The dragons spread their wings again and headed back the way they'd come, after Snotlout returned the ax. As they flew over the ocean, Astrid turned to Serenity.

"Hey Serenity, do you think you'll ever get married?" she asked. Serenity sighed sadly.

"I doubt it," she said. "There's a million to one chance of me finding the right one."

"Do you want to get married?" asked Hiccup.

"Oh of course," said Serenity. "But most humans just can't get passed the dragon side of me, and Draconia doesn't believe in arranged unions."

"You guys are lucky then," said Astrid. "I'm sure it'll happen for you someday."

"My hopes aren't high," said Serenity. "But thanks anyway."

"Now what about you two?" asked Tenor. "When will you two get married, it seems inevitable." Both Hiccup and Astrid blushed.

"That's just crazy," said Astrid.

"Okay, whatever," said Tenor, but he exchanged a smirk with Toothless and Stormfly.

They soon reached Dragon's Edge. Tenor turned and headed for the yurt. He landed and helped Serenity dismount. She took down her crutch and leaned on it.

"It's been quite a day," she said.

"Agreed," said Tenor. "It's always nice to meet new dragons."

"It was actually a new evolution of an old species," said Serenity. "Like you." Tenor purred bashfully.

"Old species?" he said.

"Yeah, that dragon was a Boneknapper with a different kind of armor," said Serenity.

"Huh, I thought he looked familiar," Tenor said. "Now, off to bed with you." He gently lifted her chin with the side of his talon. "You've put a lot of strain on that foot." Serenity hugged him and he wrapped his wings around her. She stepped back still leaning on her crutch.

"Good night," she said as she limped towards the door.

"Good night lovely," Tenor said. She vanished into the yurt and closed the door. Tenor turned and faced the starry sky. He took off and went to get him some more newts.


	6. The Zippleback Experiance

**The Zippleback Experience**

* * *

The riders made their way up to the snow capped mountain. Tenor and Serenity were among them. Serenity's foot had finally healed, as had the rest of her injuries. Re and Aurora had were on Dragon's Edge paying their comrades a visit.

The riders arrived at the peak of the mountain. Hiccup wanted to put up a watch tower that watched the northern shore. They dropped a few boulders to mark the foundation.

"There that looks good," said Hiccup. "This spot will be perfect."

"I for one couldn't be happier that..."

"Putting up the new watch tower," Snotlout interrupted Fishlegs. "We know, we've been hearing about it for the past week, month."

"Look guys, this is important," said Hiccup. "We've been seeing ships off the northern coast that shouldn't be there. If we put up a watch tower here, we'll get fair warning in case they come into our waters." The dragons landed on the snow.

"If you're talking about Dagur and Ryker, and that's who I assume you're talking about," said Snotlout.

"Actually I wasn't talking about," Hiccup started.

"How about this," Snotlout explained. "Whoever's out there that shouldn't be out there; lets just get on these very affective, fire breathing, war machines and go out and blast them into oblivion."

"I'm with Snotlout," said Tenor. "If we go in full fires blazing, this whole quarrel with the Dragon Hunters could be over very quickly and these dragons won't have to live in fear of being torn apart and slaughtered." Snotlout seemed surprised to hear this.

"That's not who we are," Hiccup protested. "Since when do we go out and blast people into oblivion full fires blazing?"

"Don't worry Tenor, he doesn't speak for us," said Snotlout. Suddenly they heard the Twins sliding down the mountain on their Zippleback. Every few minuets Barf and Belch would blast the snow. The other riders and dragons watched.

"Those two muttonheads better not bring all that snow down on us," said Astrid.

"It's not the snow I'm worried about," said Hiccup, loudly. "It's the ice." Sure enough there came a rumble from the top of the mountain. An avalanche of snow and ice came barreling down the slope after the Twins, and closing. The riders got their dragons to fly out of the way. Suddenly Barf and Belch stumbled, causing the Twins to fly off and land face down in the snow. The Zippleback was heading for the edge of a cliff. They were moving so fast that they couldn't take off. Hiccup and Toothless flew after them. Astrid and Tenor rescued the Twins from the snow and ice. Just as the Zippleback went over the edge, Hiccup and Toothless swooped down and snatched them from the air. Toothless held the larger dragon in his talons. They flew back up and set the Zippleback down beside the Twins. Toothless landed beside Tenor. Hiccup swung his leg over to dismount. Astrid saw that his metal leg had been bent and twisted.

"Ah, Hiccup I wouldn't do that," her warning came too late. Hiccup got off his dragon, stepped on his metal leg wrong, which caused him to slip on the ice and fall. He sat up and saw the condition of his metal leg. Barf and Belch picked him up by his arms.

"Ah, could you put me down guys," Hiccup said awkwardly. Barf and Belch set him down and he hobbled over to Toothless.

"And it's moments like this that I always carry a spare," he said. He reached into his saddle bags and pulled out his spare. He took off the damaged leg and replaced it with the spare. He put weight on it and was satisfied. Then everyone turned to the Twins, who were trying to sneak away.

"Hold it," Hiccup barked. "Since you two are so determined to spent time away from the group, you'll be taking the first shift of patrol duty." The Twins were not pleased.

"He's really become a tyrant," said Ruffnut.

"Power will do that to you," Tuff agreed. With that done, the riders mounted their dragons and took off.

Hiccup and Toothless headed back to their hut. Hiccup dismounted and headed for his front door. He seemed to be in discomfort.

"This new leg needs to be filed down it's pinching me," he muttered, mostly to himself. He opened the door and was suddenly hit with avalanche of fish. He soon found himself up to his neck in it.

"Oh, for the love of Thor!" he shouted. "Who did this? Wait, why I'm even asking? Ruff! Tuff!, oooh I got another shift with your names on it!"

After Toothless dug his rider out of the fish, they took off again to look for the Twins. Hiccup was in a very bad mood. He scanned the woods, muttering with fury. Suddenly Barf and Belch came out of nowhere and ripped Hiccup off the saddle. Toothless struggled to stay airborne. But he lost the fight and fell towards the earth. Hiccup dangled from Belch's mouth.

"No, Belch," Hiccup snapped. "You drop me, drop me right now." Belch obeyed and Hiccup fell towards the earth after Toothless. He caught up and pulled himself into the saddle. He clicked his foot into the stirrup and opened the tail. Toothless was able to stabilize, just before they crashed into the bushes. They untangled themselves and got to their feet.

"You all there bud?" Hiccup asked. "I think I am." Be he looked down at his metal leg and saw that it had been damaged. "And I spoke to soon." He took the leg off and hobbled over to Toothless. The Night Fury cooed sadly.

"It's okay bud," said Hiccup. "I always carry a spare for my spare." He pulled another leg and switched out the damaged one. Suddenly Barf and Belch landed next to them and dropped dead fish as Hiccup's feet.

"Wait it was you guys?" Hiccup said, surprised. "You left me all that fish. So if you're here and the Twins are Thor knows where, then who's patrolling the island?" Hiccup quickly mounted Toothless and took off, the Zippleback followed.

They located the Twins wandering the outpost, looking for their dragon. Hiccup landed Toothless near them, followed by the Zibbleback. The Twins seemed relieved and rushed over to their dragon.

"Where did you two go?" asked Ruffnut. "We've been worried sick." Hiccup was still fuming.

"Where did they go!?" he snapped. "Well let's start with, they filled my hut with fish, crashed me and Toothless out of the sky, and for their finale they broke my second spare, leg." The Twins became amused by this.

"So if our calculations are correct," said Ruff.

"And they usually are," said Tuff. "That would mean that Hiccup is on his..."

"Last leg," they laughed in unison. Hiccup rolled his eyes. He jumped off Toothless and pushed the Zippleback towards the Twins.

"You four, belong together," he said. "Now would you please get back to patrolling the island, and keep these two...oh, yeah okay just go." He was blushing a lot from the joke. He went back to Toothless.

"Last leg," he muttered. Toothless chuckled. "Hey, no don't laugh Toothless, you're above that." Hiccup clicked the stirrup and they took off. However, not a minuet went by before the found the Zippleback following them. Hiccup groaned in frustration.

"Okay bud, let's ditch the Zippleback," he said. Toothless picked up speed, the other dragon followed. The Night Fury went as fast as he could and soon lost sight of their follower. Hiccup steered him into a dark cave and watched Barf and Belch fly by, without seeing them. Hiccup waited a few minuets after they vanished.

"I think we lost them bud," he said. But then he heard noises behind them. "And they're behind me right? Great." Barf and Belch appeared on either side of them.

Later at bedtime, Hiccup found himself playing host to Barf and Belch. Neither Hiccup nor Toothless were pleased about it. Hiccup decided that he would deal with this problem tomorrow.

Over at the yurt Serenity and Tenor were saddling up for a night flight. Serenity put her saddle on Tenor's back and began securing the girth. Tenor nuzzled her.

"Interesting day," he said.

"Is there ever a day that isn't interesting around here?" Serenity asked. Tenor murmured in agreement. Serenity tightened the girth. She went over to where her bag was sitting. Suddenly there came an explosion from one of the huts. Serenity dropped her bag in surprised.

"Whoa!" Tenor barked.

"That's Hiccup's house," said Serenity.

"Wait here," Tenor ordered. "Keep that bag ready." He spread his wings and took off. He found Hiccup sitting on his porch, winded, his ears ringing, covered in soot, and his metal leg in his hand.

"Hiccup what happened?" Tenor asked.

"Ask them," Hiccup growled, pointing at Barf and Belch who were standing near by. Tenor turned to them.

"What happened?" he asked.

"We were just making ourselves comfortable," said Belch innocently. "We didn't mean any harm."

"Don't you usually sleep in the stables?" Tenor asked.

"Usually," said Barf. "But this house is a lot more comfortable than the stables." Tenor rolled his eyes and turned back to Hiccup.

"You hurt?" he asked.

"Just this," said Hiccup, holding up his metal legs, this one too had been damaged. Tenor's eyes went wide.

"Don't you have another one?" he asked.

"No, this was my last one," said Hiccup. "I need Gobber to fix them, but he's all they way over on Berk and I can't fly."

"I'll get him," said Tenor. "I'll try to be back by morning." He turned and took off. He was out of sight in minuets.

The next day Tenor came back with Gobber, he had already been informed of what happened. When they got back Gobber wen right to work fixing Hiccup's legs. Hiccup meanwhile was sitting on a bench watching. He had on one of Gobber's wooden legs, which didn't fit him at all. Barf and Belch stood nearby, as were Toothless, Fishlegs, and the Twins. Tenor had gone back to the yurt, he still owed Serenity a flight.

"So you ruined all your legs?" said Gobber. "Every single one of them?"

"All but this one," said Hiccup, gesturing to the wooden leg. Just then Barf and Belch began licking his face. The Twins were very unhappy.

"It's so weird, Zipplebacks are usually so loyal," said Fishlegs. "Why are they suddenly following Hiccup and ignoring you two?"

"Well, didn't Hiccup pull them out of the way of a deadly avalanche?" asked Gobber.

"Yeah," said Tuffnut.

"Well there you go," said Gobber. "It's a life debt. Barf and Belch will now serve Hiccup for the rest of their lives, or until the debt is repaid. Whichever comes first."

"So does this mean we could be stuck with Barf and Belch forever?" asked Hiccup.

"Does this mean we could lose Barf and Belch forever?" asked Ruffnut.

"Yes and yes," said Gobber. Everyone was shocked by that.

Once Hiccup's legs were fixed, he put one of them on and turned to his dragon.

"Come on bud, I think Serenity might be able help," he said. "She's saved dragons all the time, I'm sure she's experienced something like this before." Toothless cooed in agreement. He and the Zippleback followed him to the yurt. Serenity was sitting outside, her three dragons were munching on fresh fish. She looked up when Hiccup came up to her.

"Serenity, can you help me get this crazy dragon off my back?" he asked.

"They're not crazy Hiccup," said Serenity. "They just like you."

"Gobber said it's a life debt," said Hiccup.

"It's one of their most powerful instincts," said Serenity. "All dragons know when a debt must be paid."

"Please, I'm begging you," said Hiccup. Serenity sighed. She got to her feet and went over to the Zippleback, patting Toothless on the nose as she passed. She approached Barf and Belch and stroked them on he head.

"What's going on guys?" she asked very softly. The next dialogue was only spoken in Dragontongue. Hiccup waited, tapping his right foot. After a while Serenity turned back to him.

"Well, they'll still follow you around and all that," she said, stroking Belch's snout. "But they promise to stay out of your house, and they'll try to not ruin your legs again." Hiccup felt slightly better.

"Thanks," he said.

"Sure," said Serenity. "One of these days, you're going to be very happy that these two are following you. I've seen it time and again. I have several dragon friends out there who still haven't repaid their debts to me."

"How come they're not following you around?" asked Hiccup.

"Some dragons are more clingy then others," said Serenity. "Also probably because most of my patients were wild dragons that had lives to live."

"Oh, I see," said Hiccup.

"But dragons are always good about showing up when I really need them," said Serenity. She sat back down.

"Well thanks anyway," said Hiccup.

"Yup," said Serenity. Hiccup left and the two dragons followed him. The three Draconians laid beside her chair, having finished their fish.

"Why's he so bothered?" Tenor asked.

"I don't know," said Serenity. "I personally wouldn't mind having a Zippleback at my beck and call."

"You've had that in the past," said Aurora. "And not just with a Zippleback, but many dragons." Serenity stroked her snout. Then Tenor got to his feet.

"Well, I'm going to stretch my wings," he said. He turned and flew off before anyone spoke.

He flew through the outpost. He suddenly spotted Hiccup fall through a hole in the gangplank. He soon found himself dangling upside down with a rope attached to his metal leg. Toothless stood watching from a different gangplank. Tenor flew down and landed next to him.

"What in Draco's name is this?" he asked.

"Hiccup's trying to put himself in danger so Barf and Belch can fulfill their life debt to him," Toothless explained. "It's not really working." They watched Barf and Belch bat Hiccup back and forth. Eventually the rope broke and Hiccup fell to the ground unharmed. The Twins were looking down at him from the gangplank.

"Guys the whole point was for Barf and Belch to think they're saving my life," Hiccup called up to them.

"You're right Hiccup," said Ruffnut. "Our dragon is way too smart for this."

"Looks like we're going to have to put you in some real danger," said Tuffnut. Both twins looked thrilled by the idea. Tenor turned to Toothless again.

"And you're allowing this?" he asked.

"Well if Barf and Belch are unable to pull him out of the way, then I will," Toothless replies. Both dragons glided down to the ground near Hiccup and the Zippleback.

Later Hiccup stood at the bottom of the steep hill. At the top was a pile of large heavy logs. Tenor and Toothless watched nearby. Barf and Belch were wondering through the woods looking for Hiccup. Suddenly the logs were pushed by the Twins and went barreling towards Hiccup. Barf and Belch became alert and galloped towards him. But then a tree snagged them between their necks bringing them to an abrupt halt. Toothless blasted the logs to splinters. He went to his rider's side and checked him for damages. Tenor turned and flew off again.

He landed back at the yurt. The sun had set and he planned to head out to sea soon. The king and queen were asleep already, but Serenity was still wide awake. She looked up and smiled when Tenor landed.

"Hi," she said quietly.

"You still up?" Tenor whispered.

"I was waiting for you," said Serenity. She stroked his snout and he purred. "What was going on out there?"

"Hiccup was trying to make Barf and Belch fulfill their life debt," Tenor said, amused.

"He shouldn't be so quick to dismiss them," Serenity said.

"Well, he hasn't succeeded yet," said Tenor. He stretched his limbs.

"You going fishing?" Serenity asked.

"I am," Tenor said. "You should go to bed, it's late." Serenity hugged his snout. He nuzzled her shoulder. Then he turned and flew off over the ocean. Serenity went into the yurt and went to sleep.

The next day Tenor returned, having filled his gas lungs with fuel. He flew over the outpost. He suddenly spotted Snotlout outside Hiccup's hut, looking very smug and mischievous. Tenor landed on a gangplank and sat on his haunches. Hiccup came out rubbing the sleep from his eyes. When he turned to see Snotlout, Snotlout punched him in the face. Hiccup fell to the ground with a grunt.

"What is wrong with you!?" he bellowed.

"Hiccup Haddock I'm calling you out!" Snotlout roared gleefully. Tenor laid down and watched the quarrel. He thought about breaking it up, but he wanted to see what Hiccup was going to do. Plus he could also see Barf and Belch approaching the outpost with a net full of fish.

Hiccup got to his feet. He tried to walk off, but Snotlout flicked his ear hard. Hiccup turned and faced him.

"I am not going to fight you Snotlout!" he said loudly. He tried walking away again

"You hear that folks?" said Snotlout, to no one in particular. "The future chief is a coward." Hiccup grunted and turned to face Snotlout again.

"Come on hit me," challenged Snotlout. "You know you want to." Hiccup marched up to him, fired up.

"Fine," he said. "But remember, you wanted this." Then he punched Snotlout, right in the face. He hit him so hard it knocked Snotlout to the ground, moaning in pain. Tenor was quite surprised by this, but then started laughing. Just then Barf and Belch arrived and dropped the fish at Hiccup's feet. Hiccup realized what was going on and helped Snotlout to his feet. They walked off towards the club house. Toothless came outside. Tenor glided down and landed next to him.

"What's going on?" Toothless asked.

"You're not going to believe this," Tenor said, still laughing. "Hiccup punched Snotlout." Toothless was taken aback.

"You're kidding," he said.

"I'm not," said Tenor. "Come on." He led the way to the club house.

When they got there they found Hiccup pacing back and forth. The Twins were sitting next to the fire it, and Snotlout was sitting on a stool holding a block of ice to his swollen jaw. The two dragons sat in the corner.

"A little warning would have been nice," said Hiccup.

"Well to be honest Hiccup we figured out what was ruining out plans," said Tuffnut.

"It was you," said Ruffnut.

"Me?" said Hiccup slightly offended.

"You my friend are a terrible actor," said Tuffnut.

"So you made Snotlout attack me," said Hiccup, it wasn't a question.

"Surprised is the term we prefer," said Tuffnut. "We needed a real reaction from you."

"And boy did we get one, 'ey Snotlout," laughed Ruffnut. Snotlout just groaned in pain.

"Okay, you do realize if Barf and Belch had tried to rescue me, Snotlout would have been burned alive," said Hiccup. Snotlout became surprised at this.

"It would have been far worse if Toothless had tired to rescue you," Tenor said, still laughing. He turned and flew off before anyone spoke.

He flew over the outpost heading back to the yurt. Suddenly Astrid and Stormfly pulled alongside him.

"Hey, Tenor I just got word from Heather," said Astrid. "She has some information for us. She wants us to meet her tomorrow night. I want you to come to, it'd be nice to have a dragon spokesman." Tenor was stunned. He hovered silently in mid air for a few seconds.

"No one but my comrades have invited me to something like this," he said.

"So, you'll come?" asked Astrid.

"Yes," said Tenor. "I'll come."

"Great," said Astrid. "What was so funny anyway, you were laughing when we pulled up." Tenor grinned.

"Hiccup punched Snotlout," he said. "It was awesome."

"You're serious?" snickered Astrid. "And it actually hurt?" Tenor nodded.

"I'm going to be laughing about this for weeks," he said. He turned and flew off, heading back to the yurt.

Later that evening the riders had gathered in the club house for dinner. By now everyone had found out about the skirmish with Snotlout. They had all had a good laugh about it. As they were sitting around the table Astrid spotted Toothless out on the porch by himself. He was staring out at the sunset. Hiccup was no where in sight.

"What's Toothless doing here?" asked Astrid. Suddenly the Twins ran into the room, all out of breath.

"Have you guys seen Hiccup?" asked Tuffnut.

"Wasn't he with you?" asked Fishlegs.

"No he bailed on us," said Ruffnut. "And Barf and Belch are gone too." The riders exchanged a worried glance.

"Something's wrong," said Astrid. "If Toothless is here, and Hiccup isn't." Everyone dropped what they were doing and headed for the stables. Toothless ran the yurt.

When he got there the Draconian dragons were outside dozing off. Serenity was sewing something. They all looked up when Toothless approached them.

"We need your help," he said. "My rider and the Zippleback are missing. I get the feeling something's happened to them." The three dragons got to their feet. Tenor turned to his rider.

"You going to be okay here by yourself?" he asked.

"I'll be okay," said Serenity. "Just don't be gone long." Tenor nuzzled her and she hugged him. Then he and his comrades followed Toothless back to the club house.

They met up with the riders and their dragons. Suddenly they saw an explosion in the sky.

"That's Barf and Belch," said Ruffnut, worried. "That's their distress signal." Everyone took off before the sentence was finished. The Twins were faced with having to fly Toothless, who had also been left behind.

The riders and Draconians soon spotted a dragon hunting ship heading away from Dragon's Edge. Barf and Belch flew off the deck, followed by an explosion. They flew towards their fellows, and almost ran into them. Everyone managed to dodge each other, but then the Zippleback crashed into the Night Fury. Hiccup fell towards his dragon and managed to get into the saddle. The Twins and the Zippleback, however, weren't so lucky. The dragon hunter snagged Barf and Belch in a net and they splashed into the water, the Twins not far behind. While the other riders and dragons fought off the hunters, the Twins swam down and released their dragon. A few minuets later they burst triumphantly out of the water and joined the fight. The dragons all attacked the ship at once, setting it ablaze. The hunters turned tail and ran, while they still could. The riders headed back to their base.

While on rout Hiccup informed them that while he had been hiking through the woods, the hunters had grabbed him and tried to get him to lead the hunters to the islands with dragons on them. But they didn't get very far, Barf and Belch had flown down and rescued him.

"It seems Serenity was right," he said.

"No human knows our kind better than her," said Tenor. "No offense Fishlegs."

"Thanks for your help," said Astrid.

"You bet," said Re. They picked up speed and headed back to Dragon's Edge.

The next day Astrid and Hiccup were walking through the outpost. Hiccup was very relieved to be back to just one dragon following him. They walked passed the Twins being batted by their dragon. Hiccup and Astrid walked passed, thinking nothing of it. Things had gone back to normal, for now.


	7. Snow Way Out

**Snow Way Out**

* * *

Astrid, Stormfly, and Tenor flew over the ocean. They were on their way to meet Heather and Windshear. Re and Aurora were helping Hiccup and Fishlegs build dragon armor out of Gronkle Iron. They were also keeping Serenity company.

The two dragons arrived at the meeting point. It was a sea stack that was wider than it was tall. Heather and Windshear were there waiting for them, they had build fire already. They looked up when the two dragons landed and Astrid dismounted. Windshear smiled at Tenor. He gave her a small smile in return. He still hadn't gotten over her turning him down. He certainly didn't hate her, but seeing her often reminded him of that painful afternoon. Windshear seemed notice the sad look on his face. She approached him and nudged him gently. Heather and Astrid hugged each other. When they separated Heather turned to Tenor, surprised that he was there.

"You told Tenor?" she asked Astrid.

"I had to," said Astrid. "He thought you'd told the hunters about his rider, and he was already overly worried about her."

"Oh," said Heather, then turned to Tenor. "Well don't worry Tenor, I won't tell them about her." Tenor sighed.

"Thank you," he said. "I would never forgive myself if something bad happened to her." Heather stroked his snout.

"You think you can keep this a secret?" she asked.

"You spying on the dragon hunters?" said Tenor. "Sure. But I wouldn't be surprised if Hiccup figured this out by himself."

"I wouldn't either," said Heather, slightly amused.

"Now what's this meeting about?" Tenor asked.

"The dragon hunters were at the northern markets," said Heather, as she and Astrid sat next to the fire. "They were buying all the cold weather gear they could get their hands on."

"But it's the middle of summer," Astrid pointed out.

"I know," said Heather. "I believe we're going somewhere very cold."

"North," said Tenor suddenly. "It's very cold up north, and there's lots of dragons hiding up there."

"I heard Ryker saying something about a Snow Wraith dragon," Heather went on.

"They must be after a Snow Wraith tooth to unlock the Dragon Eye," said Astrid. "They're going to Glacier Island. Tenor perhaps Serenity can warn them about this."

"Absolutely not," Tenor snarled. "If the dragon hunters are going there, I don't want her anywhere near that island."

"Well, we'll let Hiccup and the others know," said Astrid.

"What are you going to say to them?" asked Heather.

"I'll think of something," said Astrid. "And Tenor, I'll do all the talking." Tenor just shrugged.

"When you get to Glacier Island, look for us and we'll compare notes," said Heather. They got to their feet and hugged each other again. Windshear turned to Tenor.

"It's good to see you again," she said.

"You too," Tenor said quietly. Astrid mounted Stormfly and they took off, heading back to Dragon't Edge.

Re, Aurora, and Serenity were watching Hiccup and Toothless trying out their new Gronkle Iron armor. Toothless didn't like at all. The metal kept pinching him and irritating his scales, not to mention the fact that it was very heavy. He wished he go back to Screaming Death scales. He squirmed uncomfortably and scratched at the armor.

"I know bud," said Hiccup. "Metal's itchy, trust my I know." He glanced down at his metal leg. "But we need to stay focused. Let's go in fast and low. With your moves and this new armor, they won't touch us." Toothless was doubtful. But he dove through the clouds and zipped over the water. Toothless kept squirming in discomfort, not used to the wait.

"I know, it's heavy," said Hiccup. Suddenly a net came shooting at them. Toothless dodged it. Then came a volley of arrows. Toothless flew erratically to avoid them. The armor flapped in the wind, causing drag. Suddenly grappling hooks came shooting at them. He dodged them too. His armor clanged together, making loud noises that masked the Night Fury's usual whistle. Eventually the metal clasps failed and the armor fell off. Toothless was somewhat relieved, but then was hit with an arrow, leaving a big orange spot on his chest.

They looked down at the other riders who had been shooting the items. Snotlout had been shooting arrows from a giant crossbow at Astrid's house. He shot another paint arrow at Hiccup, hitting him in the chest as well. Hiccup and Toothless landed next to them, and Hiccup dismounted. Without hesitation Toothless ripped the rest of the armor off, and rubbed himself on the ground scratching at his irritated scales.

"Man I won't be able to fight with armor like that," he moaned. "So heavy and itchy." Re and Aurora watch with sympathy.

"It took us a long time get used to our armor too," said Re. Toothless looked at him.

"But yours was made by a professional," he said. He kept scratching himself with his claws and gums. Serenity interfered before he scratched his scales off.

"Here lay down," she said. "I'll see how bad it is." Toothless laid down and rolled on to his back. Serenity examined his chest and belly. Hiccup picked up the pieces of armor.

"Well that didn't work," he said.

"You should have seen our blacksmith when she was first making dragon armor," said Aurora. "She went through the very same problems."

"She made yours?" said Hiccup.

"Yes," said Re. "After years and years of trial and error."

"Can I see?" asked Fishlegs. Re took off his left gauntlet and handed it to Fishlegs. Hiccup turned to Serenity.

"It's not too bad is it?" he asked.

"There is a slight rash," Serenity answered.

"Why is it so itchy, the armor?" asked Toothless.

"The metal is rough," said Serenity. "It rubs against your scales, and irritates it. But it's okay." She got her bag off Re's saddle and brought it back over. She opened it up and took out a bottle of ointment and a cloth. As she got to work Fishlegs and Hiccup looked at the gauntlet. It was made of a similar metal to Gronkle Iron, dyed gold, and had a inner lining of though leather. It had little metal clasps on the end.

"That's fine craftsmanship," said Hiccup.

"The very best," said Re. He took back his gauntlet and put it back on. Serenity finished her work, and Toothless got to his feet. The itching had subsided. Serenity put her things away and stood up. Toothless gave her hand a grateful lick. She scratched his ears.

"Maybe you two can help us improve the dragon armor, so it's more comfortable for the dragons," Hiccup said.

"Sure," said Re. "I wonder what's keeping Tenor and Astrid."

"Hopefully they didn't meet the dragon hunters," said Hiccup, worried.

"Tenor can handle himself with hunters," Re said. "He's the only dragon among us with venom. He's also a dragon the hunters have never seen before."

"Would Tenor actually kill Ryker?" Hiccup asked.

"Oh, yes," said Re. "He's not squeamish about killing, anything."

"We should get back to work," said Hiccup. "The sooner we get this armor working the better." Re and Aurora nodded in agreement. They went back to rebuilding the armor. Re and Aurora gave them little tips on making the armor as strong and light as possible.

It took up the rest of the day. By the time the sun set Astrid, Stormfly, and Tenor returned from their long flight. The found the others outside the clubhouse.

"Astrid, you're back from Berk," said Hiccup, pleased.

"Never made it there," said Astrid. "I ran into Trader Johann along the way and he had some pretty interesting news. Hiccup we must talk." Everyone became alert at this. They gathered in the clubhouse. Serenity headed back towards her yurt, alone. Tenor spotted her and felt bad for her. Since he already knew what the meeting was about, he didn't see the point in going. So he ran after his rider.

"Hey, wait up," he called, running up along side her.

"Don't you have a meeting to go to?" she asked.

"I already know what it's about," Tenor said. "The rider's will be heading for Glacier Island. The hunters are heading there to get a Snow Wraith tooth. We'll be heading there to warn them."

"You heard all this from Johann?" Serenity asked.

"No, from Heather," said Tenor.

"Can I come and help?" asked Serenity.

"No, I don't want those hunters to hurt you," said Tenor. "We'll make sure the hunters won't get the Snow Wraith. We'll relocate them, somewhere farther north."

"Very well," said Serenity. Tenor looked at her.

"Let's go flying, they'll be a while in there," he said. Serenity seemed to cheer up a bit at that. She got on his back and Tenor took off.

They flew all over the island and ocean. After several hours of flying, they landed on the peak of the mountain and Serenity dismounted. She sat on the ground and Tenor laid down beside her.

"I wish we could go back to traveling," Serenity said. "Fly over Rome, got through the jungles, land on top of Mt. Everest, maybe go all they way down to Antarctica, we haven't been there yet."

"Yeah that's true we haven't," said Tenor. "We also haven't been to the western Rain Forest, I've always wanted to meet the Quetzalcoatl dragons. Harmony's related to them." Serenity looked at him, hopeful. Tenor saw the look on her face and smiled.

"But these hunters must be stopped first," he said. "Then we'll go to Antarctica and the Rain Forest." He put his head in Serenity's lap and she stroked his snout. She leaned against his side and closed her eyes.

"You think the Snow Wraiths would like it in Antarctica?" she asked.

"I'm sure they would," said Tenor. "But's it's way on the other end of the planet and I'm not sure if they can make it past the equator. But I'll bring it up when we find them. It's way out of the hunters' range." Suddenly there came a loud roar and Hiccup landed Toothless in front of them.

"Tenor, we're heading to Glacier Island tomorrow," said Hiccup. "We'll need your help to find the Snow Wraith and relocate it before the hunters capture it."

"Wonderful," said Tenor. "Are my comrades coming too?"

"Yeah, you three are the only ones with armor right now," said Hiccup. "And it'll be handy to have you three around when we do find the Snow Wraith."

"I'll see you tomorrow then," Tenor said. Hiccup turned Toothless around and took off. Tenor laid his head back down. Serenity soon fell asleep. Tenor decided to not move her. Soon he fell asleep too.

The next morning the riders and dragons gathered outside the stables. Re and Aurora were there as well. They were waiting for Tenor to come back down from the mountain.

"Is he usually so late?" asked Snotlout.

"He's coming," said Aurora. "He's taking Serenity to her safe cave."

"Well, we can't wait for him," said Hiccup. "Let's go, he can catch up when he's done."

"You go," said Re. "I don't leave a comrade behind." But just as he said that, Tenor landed next to him.

"Tenor, your'e late," said Hiccup. Tenor just scowled and took off again. The others followed suit. Hiccup lead the way towards Glacier Island.

Several hours latter, the island came over the horizon. The riders were edgy about confronting both the Snow Wraith and the dragon hunters. The Draconians however, were really looking forward to it.

"Are we really trying to save a dragon who last time tried to kill us, from dragon hunters who every time we meet try to kill us?" asked Tuffnut.

"Don't forget Heather, she and her dragon always try to kill us to," said Ruffnut gleefully.

"Heather won't be a problem," said Astrid uneasily.

"Why wouldn't Heather be a problem?" asked Fishlegs.

"Because, we outnumber her," said Astrid. No one found comfort in that.

"Lets just find this Snow Wraith and get it out of here before the hunters come looking for it," said Hiccup. "We'll go to the spot where we found it last time."

"You mean where it found us," Snotlout pointed out.

"That would be correct," said Hiccup.

"You guys just have to find the Snow Wraith," said Aurora. "We'll take care of relocating him."

"Where would you relocate them?" Hiccup wanted to know.

"I've got a place," Tenor pipped up. "Perfect for a Snow Wraith, and way out of the hunters' range."

"Good to know," said Hiccup. He clicked the stirrup and Toothless sped towards the island, the others followed.

They landed near the lake and dismounted. The riders dismounted, but stayed close to their dragons to keep warm. The wind was howling and the snow came down heavily. They dragons didn't seem phased by the cold and wind.

"Well if we run into any dragon hunters, they won't have much luck with those dragonroot arrows in this weather," Hiccup said, trying to keep things positive. They others ignored him as they were too busy shivering. Re turned to Tenor.

"What was keeping you back there?" he wanted to know.

"Serenity wasn't too happy that I had to leave her again," Tenor said. "She wants to go back to traveling in the world. I told her we couldn't do that until these hunters are stopped. She tried to convince me to stay behind." Just then Hiccup and Astrid approached them.

"Tenor we're going to scout the island for the Snow Wraith or the hunters," Hiccup said. "We could use your help."

"Sure," said Tenor. Hiccup and Astrid mounted their dragons and took off, Tenor followed them into the blizzard.

They flew beside each other for several minuets. Both Toothless and Tenor used their sonar to make sure they didn't hit anything.

"Do you see anything?" Hiccup called over the wind.

"I can barely see you half the time," Astrid call back. "Maybe we should split up, cover more ground. I can take Tenor so I won't get lost."

"No, we stay together, it's safer," Hiccup protested. But no sooner had he said that, then the blizzard blocked his view of Astrid and Tenor.

He looked for them for several minuets. But when he saw no sign of them he went back to their campsite. Snotlout had put up the tents. Re and Aurora had dug a fire pit and Re had lit it. Toothless landed and Hiccup dismounted.

"Where's Astrid?" asked Fishlegs.

"We got separated in the storm," Hiccup explained. "But she has Tenor with her, so no reason to worry yet." Re and Aurora exchanged a glance, worried about their comrade.

Astrid and Stormfly flew through the blizzard, Tenor alongside them. He used his sonar to guide them. Suddenly the two dragons spotted a campfire down below, Heather and Windshear were huddled around it. Stormfly squawked.

"I see them girl," said Astrid. "Let's go in another way." She steered Stormfly around. They landed on a different ledge and approached the camp fire on foot.

"Well, well, well," said Astrid, swinging her ax. "Surprised to see us?"

"Not really," said Heather. "I've been listening to you stomp through the snow for a while." She got up and turned to face Astrid. She then took off her hood and scarf.

"What took you so long?" she said happily. She hugged Astrid and their dragons greeted each other as well. Tenor landed near the camp fire and folded his wings. Windshear beamed.

"Hey hot shot," she said, winking. Tenor drew back, shocked.

"No one's ever called me that before," he said, slightly confused.

"Really?" said Windshear. "That's a bit sad. Wouldn't you agree Stromfly."

"Yeah, the other dragons haven't been very nice to you," said Stormfly. Tenor snickered softly.

"Ironically the only ones who haven't made fun of me are the humans," he said. He shrugged nonchalantly. Just then Heather came up to him.

"Hi, Tenor," she said. "Did you bring your rider?"

"Nope," Tenor said. "I brought my comrades." Windshear looked surprised.

"The king and queen?" she asked. Tenor nodded.

They all sat around the fire. The snow had stopped for the moment. Tenor stretched out on the snow. He relit the camp fire when it started to burn low. Heather pulled out a map of the island.

"According to Ryker the Snow Wraith digs a tunnel to hibernate in during the summer months," she said.

"That explains the rush to get out here," said Astrid. "The hunters plan to get a tooth from a hibernating Snow Wraith."

"Exactly," said Heather.

"To bad we don't know where the cave is," said Astrid.

"But think I might," said Heather. "Windshear and I spotted a cave on a plateau half way up that mountain." She pointed it out. "You get the other riders up there to check it out. Meanwhile I tell Ryker I didn't find anything and try to keep away for as long as I can." Tenor beamed with excitement. But Astrid seemed uneasy. Heather noticed.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"We should tell Hiccup what we're doing," said Astrid. "This doesn't feel right."

"No, we agreed," said Heather.

"I've lied to him before," said Astrid.

"This is the best way to take out the dragon hunters," said Heather. "From the inside."

"Hiccup could help us," said Astrid. "He's really got at this stuff."

"He also cares too much," said Heather. "If Hiccup found out that I was spying on the dragon hunters, he'd try to get me out of it."

"I get that," said Astrid. "But if he or one of the others got hurt, or you got hurt because I held something back." She shuddered at the idea.

"Nothing will go wrong," Heather promised. Astrid opened her mouth to protest but Heather kept going. "I'm so close to finding Veego, I can't quit now."

"Is this why I'm not allowed to kill Ryker?" Tenor asked. "He's the key to finding the head of the hunters?"

"Yes," said Heather. "If you killed him now, we may never find Veego."

"And what happens when you find Veego?" Tenor asked. He gashed his venomous teeth.

"You're awfully violent," said Heather. "You'd really kill Veego if you had the chance?"

"Oh yes," said Tenor. "He's killed several of my kind. I'm sure the dragon race want justice and I plan to give it to them." No one could argue with that. Windshear nudged him.

"Can we count on you to keep this a secret?" Heather asked. Tenor inhaled deeply.

"If there's one thing I'm good at Ms. Heather, it's keeping secrets," he said. "I've kept myself secret for most of my life. I'll keep my mouth shut."

"Thanks," said Heather.

"We should get back," said Astrid. "Before Hiccup comes looking for us." Tenor nodded in agreement. He waited while Heather and Astrid to say farewell. Windshear stood beside him.

"You still mad at me?" she asked.

"I was never mad at you Windshear," Tenor said. "I know why you turned me down. I can't be mad at you for being honest." He swallowed hard.

"Thanks," said Windshear. "How's Serenity?"

"She's okay," said Tenor. He looked at his empty saddle. "She's pretty lonely too, however." He looked over at Heather and Astrid. Astrid had gotten on Stormfly already. Windshear followed his gaze.

"Serenity has thousands of dragon friends," said Tenor. "But no human friends. The other riders don't really accept her as one of them. To them, she's just another source like the Book of Dragons or the Dragon Eye." At that moment Heather came over and mounted her dragon.

"What do you plan to do with the Snow Wraith when you find it?" Heather asked.

"Relocate it," Tenor said. "Somewhere out of the hunters' range." He turned and took off, with Astrid following. They flew back to the other riders, Astrid working out a cover story.

When they reached the others Astrid said they had spotted a cave near the top of the mountain. The riders and three Draconinans took off to go check it out. They landed on the top and walked though the cliffs, looking for the cave.

"When we saw the cave from above it got me thinking," Astrid explained. "Last time the Snow Wraith was on us almost instantly. Why not this time? It must be hiding or hibernating or something."

"That's possible," said Fishlegs.

"What I want to know is how you knew to look way out here when we were looking in the opposite direction," said Hiccup suspiciously.

"We were being thorough," Tenor explained. "This island is very big and the Snow Wraith could be anywhere. When it stopped snowing we decided to take the long way back, and make sure no icicle was left unturned."

"That makes sense," said Hiccup. "Any sign of the hunters?"

"No," said Astrid and Tenor in unison. Hiccup let it go for now. Astrid gave Tenor a grateful look. Suddenly they heard movement up head. They paused and tensed up. The dragons growled and readied their fire blasts. But the three boars came around the corner, towards them. Tenor roared and they scattered. He led the way forwards.

"There," said Astrid. She pointed to a large opening in the cliff. "I should check it out."

"We, should check it out," Hiccup corrected. He led the way towards the cave. They entered and looked around. Tenor spotted claw marks on the wall.

"Over here," he said. They all saw the claw marks.

"Were in the right spot," said Hiccup. "Let's get moving. Those hunters could show up anytime."

"Tenor you wait out here and let us know when they come," Re ordered. Tenor frowned in disappointment. He spread his wings and took off. The rest of them headed deeper into the cave.

"Snotlout, get out the Monstrous Nightmare gel," Hiccup said.

Outside Tenor circled the area. He was suddenly joined by Heather and Windshear. The two dragons circled each other. The hunters were nowhere in sight yet.

"Are they in there?" Heather asked.

"Yeah," Tenor said. "They made me wait out here." He snorted in frustration. Heather thought for a few minuets.

"Would you mind if I pretend to capture you?" she asked. Tenor narrowed his eyes.

"Why?" he wanted to know.

"If I take out the sentry," said Heather. "It'll look like I'm doing my job, to maintain my cover." Tenor sighed. Then he let out a roar of frustration.

"Usually I don't do captured," he said. "But, go right ahead." He paused in mid air. Heather steered Windshear around to face him. Windshear readied her spines. Tenor gulped nervously.

"Make it look convincing," said Windshear. She then shot her spines at him. Most of them missed, but about three of them hit him in the wings. Tenor roared in pain and fell towards the ground. Windshear caught him and gently set him down. He laid on his side, pretending to be dazed and winded. Heather dismounted and quickly gagged him with a rope. She then pulled out the spines and tied his wings to his body so he couldn't fly away. And for extra precaution she tied together his tail fins. Just then the hunters arrived, with Ryker in the lead. Tenor struggled against his bonds but Windshear held him down and bit his neck.

"I caught this one," said Heather to Ryker. "He was providing lookout." Ryker sneered down at Tenor.

"Not so scary now are you?" he cackled. Tenor could only growl. Ryker replaced the ropes with chains. He shackled Tenor's paws. He put a thick chain around his neck and pulled the dragon to his feet. They made their way to the cave. Heather got back on Windshear and followed.

Inside the cave the riders and dragons had just rounded a corner and was about to loose sight of the exit. No one spoke, keeping all their senses open for the Snow Wraith. Suddenly they heard a metallic rattling sound. Everyone tensed up.

"What's that?" Hiccup said. Re and Aurora looked behind them.

"Behind you," Re said. They turned and saw three hunters in the entrance, aiming arrows at them. They fired and missed. The dragons fired back and the hunters scattered.

Outside Ryker turned on Heather and Windshear. The Razorwhip had been dragging her spiny tail back and forth on the ice, making the rattling sound.

"Can you control that beast of yours?" Ryker said, annoyed. "She gave us away."

"She's a dragon covered in spikes, walking on ice," Heather pointed out. "She's going to make noise." Windshear continued swaying her tail back and forth.

"You keep that thing quiet, or I will," Ryker threatened. Windshear stopped at once. Ryker went into the cave, dragging Tenor with him.

The riders waited in the dark, whispering among them. Re and Aurora were on edge.

"What's Tenor doing out there?" Re asked.

"There's no reason to worry yet," said Aurora. She had been watching the activity outside with her magic vision. She explained it in Dragontongue to Re, so he wouldn't worry.

"I wonder what Ryker's going to do next," said Fishlegs nervously. As an answer to his question Ryker entered the cave, dragging Tenor behind him all chained up. This surprised everyone, Tenor never got captured.

"Send your leader out, alone," Ryker ordered.

"It could be a trap," Astrid said. "I should go out."

"Yeah, let Astrid go out," said Snotlout, sarcastically. But then Ryker seemed to make up their minds for them.

"Hiccup Haddock!" he called. "Lets talk this over, as men." He thrust his sword into the ice. Everyone tuned to Hiccup. He dismounted.

"I don't like the sound of that," said Fishlegs.

"If there's a way to resolve this without bloodshed," said Hiccup. He made his way towards Ryker. Toothless followed, but Hiccup stopped him.

"You stay here bud," he ordered. "If this is a trap, I may need you to help get me out of it." Toothless cooed with worry, but sat on his haunches to wait. He watched his rider walk into Ryker's sight. They both sized each other up.

"Dagur was right," said Ryker, quietly. "You don't look like much."

"Astrid was right," Hiccup shot back. "You look like a psycho." Tenor snort in amusement.

"Shut up," Ryker snapped at him, not even raising his voice.

"What do you want Ryker?" Hiccup asked, putting his shield on the ground.

"The Dragon Eye," said Ryker. "It belongs to us. You stole it from our ship." Hiccup patted himself down.

"Huh, I must have left it in my other pants," he said, casually. Ryker narrowed his eyes.

"Look around you," he said. "We're in front of you, and the Snow Wraith is behind you. Hand it over and you're free to go, along with his black beast." He held up the chain that was attached around Tenor's neck.

"No," Hiccup said firmly.

"You really don't have the Dragon Eye eh?" said Ryker. "Well, then surrender now and you won't meet the same fate as your dragons."

"Okay, here's my offer," said Hiccup. "Leave now, and you won't have to find out what burning flesh looks like." Ryker just sneered.

"Fine," he said. "But don't say I didn't warn you." Suddenly a bowman came out from hiding, aiming an arrow at Hiccup. Windshear whipped the lantern out of another guard's hands. It landed nearby, the light bounced off the ice and blinded the bowman. He fired and missed by a hundred miles. Hiccup ran back to his friends. Ryker turned around and walked outside, dragging Tenor and Heather with him. He spun Heather around, glaring at her.

"I saw that," he hissed. "You did that on purpose."

"Of course I did," said Heather. "How many times do Dagur and I have to keep reminding you that Hiccup is worth more alive then dead." Ryker considered, stroking his mustache.

"Maybe you're right Heather," he said. "Maybe Hiccup can be of some use to us. Blast the cave." Heather looked shocked.

"What?" she said.

"Have your animal blast the cave," Ryker repeated. "We'll seal 'em in." Heather went back over to Windshear. She gave the order and the silver dragon shot the roof of the cave. The ground shook and huge blocks of ice fell and blocked the entrance. Ryker turned to Tenor.

"You're in luck black beast," he said. "I don't have a spare cage for you, I'm saving them for the Snow Wraiths. But your luck will run out." Tenor growled with excitement.

"Bring it on baldy," he said, his voice was muffled by the gag.

Inside the cave Toothless lit up his mouth so they had some light. The riders came out of the protection of their dragon's wings. Hookfang flamed up.

"Why would Ryker seal himself off from the key?" asked Snotlout.

"He was sealing himself out, he was sealing us in," Astrid clarified.

"Astrid's right," said Hiccup. "Ryker figures we will fight the Snow Wraith for him. And then he'll come in and deal with whoever is left."

"But we're not going to do that are we?" asked Snotlout.

"Guys the plan hasn't changed," said Hiccup, mounting Toothless. "We grab the Snow Wraith and get it out of here before the hunters get their hands on it."

"Oh, is that all," said Snotlout sarcastically. They took off and flew farther into the cave. Re and Aurora were right with them.

"What do you know about the Snow Wraith?" Hiccup asked them.

"They're the only animal that hibernate in the summer," said Aurora. "They have to fly several miles from their cave in the winter, in order to find food. They will die in warm weather."

"Will they see us as food?" asked Fishlegs. Re sighed.

"The only humans dragons will eat, are really fat ones," he said. "And that's only if we're desperate enough, you humans aren't very tasty. I once met a dragon who ate a Roman soldier and it gave him bad breath, for a whole month."

"Ah, that's good to know," said Hiccup, with a hint of disgust.

At that moment they came to a huge cavern made of ice and snow. Light came in through the thinest layers. High on one of the ledges, three large Snow Wraiths were fast asleep. One of them suddenly lifted his head and sniffed around, leaving his eyes closed.

"Maybe if we don't move it won't know we're here," Tuffnut whispered. But then the Snow Wraith opened his blue eyes. He saw the intruders and growled. Hiccup got his brain working to come up with something.

"Maybe we can put it back to sleep," he said. He grabbed a Dragonroot arrow that had lodged in Tuffnut's helmet. He opened up his special shield into a crossbow and fired the arrow at the Snow Wraith. It took off and the arrow missed. The Snow Wraith roared, and woke up its fellows. Hiccup clicked the stirrup and Toothless took off, facing the lead Wraith. Hiccup wasn't sure which one was the dragon they had met last time they all looked the same. The lead Wraith roared orders to the other two. They took off and dove into the ground, and out of sight. The lead Wraith soon followed.

"Burrowing, that's new," said Hiccup.

"Not sure I like it," said Fishlegs. Just then a Wraith burst through the wall and shot white fire at the riders.

"Oh, I know I don't like it," Snotlout roared. Hiccup landed Toothless next to the other dragons. They all took a fighting stance. The Snow Wraiths bust out of the ice in any direction, and shot at the riders. The dragons fired back, everyone missed. The Wraiths dove into the ground again.

"Defensive positions," Hiccup ordered. The riders steered their dragons into the cavern. They formed a circle in the center, facing the three burrows. Re and Aurora circled them from above. They waited, keeping all senses on alert. They heard the three dragons burrowing beneath them. Then they burst out of the ice and fired some more. The Berkian dragons fired back. Toothless managed to hit one, stunning it. But before anyone could react, the other two Wraiths picked up their fallen friends and dove out of sight. The place went dead quiet. Re and Aurora landed. The Wraiths did not appear again.

"They must have dug a tunnel all the way outside," said Hiccup. "And if they did."

"That's our way out too," said Astrid, finishing his sentence. Suddenly they heard the Wraiths roaring in distress from outside. Re and Aurora hissed.

"The hunters," Hiccup exclaimed. "Let's go." They took off down the Wraiths' burrows.

They flew threw a labyrinth of ice tunnels. Toothless used his sonar to, and the other dragons lit up their mouths with fire, Aurora used her magic. Eventually the made it out of the ice caves and into the raging blizzard. They found the burrowing hols surrounded by litter from the hunters. The dragons circled it.

"Ryker knew about the burrowing all along," said Hiccup. "He used us to flash the Snow Wraiths out, then he captured them."

"And it looks like they're heading back to their ship," said Astrid, pointing at fresh footprints. "Along the south side of the island."

"There not going to get there," said Hiccup, with determination. They flew their dragons after the hunters.

The blizzard stopped as they spotted the hunters dragging the three Snow Wraiths and Tenor towards their ship. The dragons hovered.

"Great time for the snow to let up," said Astrid.

"Okay, we can't get too close," said Fishlegs. "We have to stay out of the range of those arrows." Hiccup suddenly spotted a huge, overhanging sheet of ice right over the hunters, an idea formed in his head. He turned to the Twins.

"Maybe we don't have to, Ruff, Tuff, we need an avalanche," he said. "Re, Aurora, you draw their fire." The two armored dragons went into a power dive, right at the hunters. The shot fire at them, and the hunters shot arrows that didn't make a single hit. Meanwhile the Twins got their Zibbleback close enough to the ice sheet. The dragon blasted it, causing an avalanche. Huge chunks of ice fell onto the hunters, scattering them. Re and Aurora flew in and rescued their comrade. The three of them flew out of the way of the avalanche. Ryker stood his ground, glaring at the riders. Hiccup glared back down.

"Looks like you're in the though spot this time," he taunted. But suddenly Heather and Windshear swooped in and grabbed Ryker, flying off with him. Hiccup was shocked, but only for a second.

"Heather," he growled. "Everyone, grab the Snow Wraiths and get them out of here. I'll go after Ryker." The other riders obeyed. Re, Aurora, and Tenor picked up the cages that contained the Wraiths, and flew them to safety, the riders following.

Hiccup and Toothless raced after Heather, Windshear, and Ryker. Ryker shot arrows at Toothless, but missed. Heather and Windshear concentrated on not hitting anything. When they were in range, Toothless made ready a plasma blast. Suddenly Astrid and Stormfly came out of nowhere and blocked him. Hiccup had to steered Toothless clear, to avoid a collusion. They went around the Nadder to get another shot.

"Hiccup no!" Astrid cried. She saw Toothless light up his mouth. He aimed it at Heather, Ryker, and Windshear. Astrid could take it no more.

"Hiccup, Heather's with us," she called. Hiccup was quite shocked to hear this. He made Toothless abort the shot. He turned around and looked at Astrid.

"What did you just say?" he asked. Astrid looked awfully sheepish. The opponents were long gone by now. Groaning with frustration Hiccup steered Toothless after the other riders, Astrid and Stormfly followed. Astrid knew she was in for it this time.

Back at Dragon's Edge, the riders set the Snow Wraiths down near Serenity's yurt. The sun was setting and it was nearly dark. When Serenity heard the dragons and riders returning she came outside. The three Draconians set the cages down, then landed.

"Can you guys take over from here?" asked Hiccup.

"Yes, we can," said Re.

"Good, the rest of you club meeting, now," Hiccup ordered. They all took off and headed for the outpost. The Draconians turned their attention to the Snow Wraiths. Aurora clicked her talons and the cages vanished. The Wraiths were relieved.

"Thank you, your majesties," said the one in the middle.

"You're welcome," said Aurora. "Glacierwing, Icebreaker, and Snowcloud." The Wraiths blushed.

"Glacierwing?" said Serenity. The Wraith in the middle turned to her. He beamed when he recognized her.

"Hey Serenity," he said. He approached her and she stroked his snout. He groaned with pleasure at her touch.

"This is the human girl you told us about?" asked Snowcloud.

"Yeah," said Glacierwing. "Pretty isn't she?"

"Indeed," said Icebreaker. "And she can speak to us. That's pretty unusual for a human." Glacierwing nuzzled Serenity's shoulder. She hugged him. Then Glacierwing turned to the king and queen.

"What now?" he asked.

"We have to get you guys somewhere safe," said Aurora. "And we should get going at once."

"Can she come?" asked Glacierwing, looking at Serenity.

"Sure, if she wants to," said Re. Serenity nodded eagerly. Aurora turned to Tenor.

"You should attend that meeting," she said. Tenor nodded in agreement. Glacierwing turned to Serenity again.

"You can ride on my back if you want," he said. Serenity smiled and mounted him. Re, Aurora, and the three Snow Wraiths spread their wings and took off. Tenor watched them until they were out of sight. Then he took off and headed for the clubhouse.

He landed and went inside. The riders looked up when he entered.

"Where are the Snow Wraiths?" Fishlegs asked.

"My comrades are leading them far from here," Tenor said. "Serenity went with them, riding Glacierwing. He's the one you met last time." Fishlegs looked slightly envious at this news. But then everyone turned to Astrid. She figured she owed them an explanation.

"Heather joined Dagur and got close to him in order to avenge her family," she said. "Then when she found out about his alliance with the dragon hunters, she got closer to him to learn more."

"But when the hunters captured us you and Heather were fighting all the time," said Ruffnut.

"That's what we wanted people to think," said Astrid.

"So Heather's not evil?" said Snotlout, disappointed. "There goes that dream."

"I knew she was good at heart," Fishlegs said. Astrid looked at Hiccup, who was standing quietly in the corner, something he learned from Stoic.

"Hiccup, will you say something?" asked Astrid nervously. Toothless nudged his riders hand, crooning. Hiccup clenched his fist.

"We're a team, Astrid," he said quietly, glaring.

"I know, I wanted to tell you. I really did," said Astrid. "I'm sorry. But without Heather the hunters would have a key and the Snow Wraiths wouldn't be safely hidden on another island." Hiccup took a deep breath.

"What I don't understand is why you wouldn't let me take them out," he said. "We could have captured the head of the dragon hunters." Astrid sighed.

"Hiccup, Ryker isn't the head of the dragon hunters," she said. "Their real leader is someone named Veego Grimborne. He lives in the shadows, everyone's afraid of him even Ryker. Heather hasn't met him yet, but she's close." Hiccup seemed to relax a touch.

"Well, I hope she knows what she's doing," he said. "For all hour sakes." Everyone nodded in agreement.


	8. Edge of Disaster pt 1

**Edge of Disaster pt. 1**

* * *

Tenor sat dozing next to yurt early one morning. Re and Aurora had gone out for an early morning fishing trip. Serenity was inside the yurt, also asleep. Tenor woke up when the sun came over the horizon. He stretched and got to his feet. No one else seemed to be up. He beamed at this. He ran into the yurt and roused his rider. She opened her eyes.

"Tenor," she said sleepily.

"You want to go fly this morning?" Tenor asked. "While we've got the sky to ourselves." Serenity yawned and rolled onto her back.

"There's plenty of sky for more than one dragon," she pointed out. "But alright, I'll be right out." Tenor nodded eagerly and left the room. Serenity got out of bed and pulled on her jacket, hat, boots, and gloves.

She went outside where Tenor was waiting for her. She smiled when she saw him. Tenor kept his armor off, since they weren't going to battle. Serenity saddled him up and put her medical bag on the back. She mounted him and they took off. They flew all over the island. They went through the various tunnels throughout the place. Then they landed on the top of the mountain. Serenity dismounted and sat on the ground. Tenor laid beside her. He swung his tail across her lap and gently pulled her close to him. They watched the sunrise in beautiful silence.

Suddenly they heard a Nadder down below. They looked and saw Astrid and Stormfly flying over the forest. They were heading for the north side of the mountain. They approached the watchtower. The Twins were supposed to have been keeping a look out. But Astrid found two dummies in there place. She was no doubt angry by this. She turned and flew away.

"We should head back soon," Tenor said. Serenity sighed sadly and laid her head on his strong shoulder. Tenor nuzzled her.

"Can't we stay up here?" Serenity asked. "It's so peaceful."

"I agree," Tenor said. "But I assume you want breakfast."

"Hmm, good point," said Serenity. "But can we come back up here to watch the sunset?" Tenor smiled.

"If nothing else comes up, sure," he said. Just then Serenity's stomach rumbled. Tenor looked amused.

"Let's head back," he said. Serenity kissed his scaly cheek. They got to their feet. Serenity mounted up and they took off.

They dove strait down the mountain at high speed. They reached the tree line and shot over it. They flew back to the yurt and landed beside it. Re and Aurora had returned from sea. Serenity dismounted and hugged them each in turn. Just then Hiccup and Toothless hovered over the yurt.

"Re, Aurora, we just got an air message from Trader Johann," Hiccup said. "He's being terrorized by dragon hunters. We plan to head out at once, and we could really use your help." Re and Aurora exchanged a glance.

"We'll get ready at once," said Aurora. Hiccup nodded and left. The queen turned to Serenity.

"You should come along as well," she said. "You'll be in much more danger her." Serenity smiled.

"Yes ma'am," she said.

The three dragons put their armor on. Tenor planned to stay behind and help guard the edge. Serenity ate breakfast while they got ready. Before long Serenity grabbed her medical bag and mounted the queen. They headed for the stables. The other riders were there getting ready as well. Hookfang and Toothless were wearing their new Gronkle Iron armor. Hiccup told Astrid and the Twins to stay behind and hold down the edge. Astrid was not pleased with this.

"Hiccup for all that his sacred in the world," she begged. "You can not leave me alone with these two." She pointed to the Twins who were standing nearby.

"Astrid, Toothless and Hookfang have the only working armor," said Hiccup. "And Meatlug is immune to the dragon hunters' arrows."

"She's immune to the dragonroot,, not the actual arrows," Re corrected. Astrid heaved a huge sigh of frustration.

"This may be the worst day in history," she said. Hiccup gave her a look of sympathy.

"Just do the best you can," he said. "We'll try to be back in a few days." He mounted Toothless. He saw that Serenity was mounted on Aurora.

"What are you bringing her for?" he asked.

"Oh, just in case," said Aurora mysteriously. The other three riders mounted their dragons. They took off and followed Hiccup to wherever Trader Johann was.

Tenor flew over the outpost minding his own business. He watched Astrid put the Twins to work. Hiccup had also instructed Astrid to keep the Dragon Eye hidden. She wasn't happy in the slightest about being stuck with the Twins yet again. Tenor decided to wait until she was at the very end of her rope before he reviled that he had stayed behind. He flew off and began looking for something to eat.

Out over the ocean, the others were about to arrive at the location Johann had disclosed. When they found it, they saw dragons dive bombing it, which consisted of Monstrous Nightmares, Gronkles, and Nadders. There wasn't a single dragon hunting ship in sight. This annoyed them slightly.

"I thought he said dragon hunters, not actual dragons," said Snotlout.

"Well, you know Johann," said Hiccup awkwardly.

"I wonder what he did to make them so mad," said Fishlegs.

"Probably told them one of his dumb stories," laughed Snotlout.

"Focus guys," Hiccup snapped. He clicked the stirrup and lead the way towards the ship. They attempted to chase away the wild dragons, but the dragons attacked the riders. Johann was no help, cowering behind the mast of his ship. The wild dragons shot fire at the riders and their dragons. The Draconians kept their distance to protect their healer. Suddenly one of the wild dragons snatched up Fishlegs and carried him off. Then a few minuets later another one snatched up Serenity and followed. Hiccup, Snotlout, Meatlug, and the Draconians landed on the ship with Johann. Meatlug was in hysterics.

"They took my Fishlegs," she cried. "Oh, if they hurt him I'll..."

"Meatlug, get a hold of yourself," Re said strongly. "This is no time to loose your head."

"Yes sir," said Meatlug. But she was still fidgeting on the spot. Johann got on Toothless behind Hiccup and they all took off again. They headed for a nearby island that the wild dragons had been heading to.

"You thing those wild ones will hurt Fishlegs?" asked Meatlug to Aurora.

"No," Aurora said. "He and Serenity are safe, just being held hostage. We'll get them back." They picked up speed and headed for the island.

Back on Dragon's Edge, Tenor flew over a watchtower that Astrid was trying to finish up with the Twins. But the Twins were doing everything but what Astrid asked them to do. This made Astrid extremely frustrated. She went to the watchtower, carrying logs. She didn't have much hope that the Twins would have made any progress. When she got there however, the Twins were nowhere in sight. But then they came flying overhead on a zip line. They hit the watchtower and fell on top of a pile of logs, knocking them all into the water below. Astrid gave a frustrated grunt. The Twins got to their feet.

"We know this wasn't what you had in mind," said Tuffnut excitedly. "But we really think this could be useful."

"How could that be useful?" asked Astrid angrily.

"It could be useful incase of..." Ruffnut said, stammering.

"You have no idea do you?" Astrid interrupted. "Do you know what your problem is? You don't think, you don't plan, you just come up with these crazy ideas with out any regards for consciences. What am I going to do with you two?" Ruffnut scowled and marched right up to Astrid.

"Well, you can start by being kind," she said, grumpily. "We know what our problem is. Question is, do you know what you're problem is?"

"No, I don't," said Astrid.

"Let me lay it out for you then," yelled Ruffnut. "You have no respect for Fishlegs, certainly none for Snotlout, and you couldn't have less respect for the two of us." Tenor was really enjoying this, especially when Astrid had nothing to say to that. Ruffnut stormed off. Astrid turned to Tuffnut, who didn't look too pleased either.

"She's wrong you know," Astrid said. "I do, I re-spe-ct you guys." She seemed to have trouble even saying the word. Tuffnut scoffed.

"You can hardly say it," he mumbled. Then he too left. Astrid stood here looking completely restless.

"Hiccup, where are you when I need you," she said, to herself. Tenor grinned and decided to reveal himself to Astrid. He flew down and landed behind her.

"I say Astrid, you seem to be at the end of your rope," he said, slightly amused. Astrid turned to see him standing there. She breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"Tenor, thank Thor," she said. "I don't suppose you heard that."

"I did," Tenor agreed. "And you do seem to get frustrated and angry every time Hiccup sticks you with any of the other riders."

"I do respect the Twins," said Astrid.

"No you don't," said Tenor. "You don't ever listen to what they have to say, even if it's something very important. And you get annoyed every time Hiccup brings them along. I mean I don't think it would kill you to try listening to them, and trying one of their ideas." Astrid considered.

"But they haven't done one thing for me," she said.

"Well Tuffnut did discover the clue on the Reaper, that was a key factor in rescuing Stormfly from the hunters," Tenor pointed out. "If he hadn't seen that, you wouldn't have known where to even start looking."

"That's true," said Astrid. "But they didn't do anything I asked today."

"You never asked them to do anything," Tenor said. "You just shouted at them from the start. And no one likes being yelled at." Astrid just scowled at him. Tenor smirked. "So, if the Twins were doing something that was annoying you, you would come and tell me about it."

"Yes, because you can do something," said Astrid.

"You what that makes you don't you?" said Tenor.

"What?" asked Astrid.

"A tattle tale," said Tenor. He turned and flew off, leaving Astrid to ponder what he just said.

On the wild dragons' island, Hiccup lead the way through the dark woods. The sun had set and the woods were very quiet. Hiccup and Snotlout walked through it, followed by Johann and all the dragons.

"So they just grabbed Fishlegs and Serenity and took off," said Hiccup.

"Yup, that's how it happened," said Snotlout.

"Johann did they take anything from your ship?" Hiccup asked Johann. "Food, water."

"No Master Hiccup," said Johann. "They only seemed interested in terrorizing me, until you came along then they terrorized you. Which was a bit of a relief if I'm being honest." Re and Aurora rolled their eyes.

"It makes no sense," said Hiccup. "Nightmares, Naders, Gronkles, even in the wild these dragons shouldn't be this aggressive."

"Well, Johann was in their territory," said Re. "I would be overly aggressive if a suspicious ship was in my waters, especially if I was guarding eggs or something valuable like that."

"You got a point," said Hiccup. "You think those dragons will do anything bad to Serenity and Fishlegs?"

"Serenity can handle herself," said Aurora. "Not so sure about Fishlegs though. There's no reason for these wild dragons to trust him."

"And when we do find these dragons, I wonder if you will let us talk to them," said Re.

"Hey save me the trouble," said Hiccup.

"Then you will understand when we ask you lot to remain out of sight," said Aurora. "At least until we say otherwise."

"Sure," said Hiccup. They remained quiet as they approached the gorge where the wild dragons were gathered.

Back on the edge, it was nighttime as well. Tenor was flying low over the outpost. He suddenly spotted Tuffnut flagging him down. Tenor flew down and land in front of Tuffnut, who was distressed.

"I need you to fly me to Astrid," said Tuffnut. "The dragon hunters got Ruffnut." Tenor took off at once, snatching up Tuffnut as he passed.

They landed on Astrid's porch and ran inside. Astrid was sharpening her ax, Stormfly was dozing off behind her. They instantly woke up when Tenor and Tuff barged in.

"The dragon hunters got Ruffnut," Tuffnut blurted out. Astrid and Stormfly ran outside, followed by Tenor and Tuff. The two riders mounted up and flew in the direction Tuffnut last saw the hunters. They landed on the northernmost watchtower. They landed and saw a whole fleet of dragon trapping ships off the north shore.

"That's a big problem," said Tenor. "But an exiting one."

"Back to my house now," said Astrid. She turned Stomfly around and took off. Tenor followed and they headed back to the edge.

When they got there, they landed and went inside. Astrid rushed towards her desk for pencil and paper.

"First things first," she said. "We need to send an SOS to Berk, the back up team." She attached the note to a Tiny Terror and he took off.

"How do we know he'll get there in time?" asked Tuffnut.

"We don't," said Astrid, pulling out every weapon she owned.

"Okay how do we know they'll get back here in time?" asked Tuffnut.

"We don't," Astrid said again.

"Okay, there is a serious lack of positivity in those answers," said Tuffnut, panicking.

"Tuffnut," Astrid said firmly. "We will get your sister back. But we have to keep our heads or we won't accomplish anything." Tuffnut relaxed a bit. Astrid turned back to gathering her weapons. Tenor tightened the straps on his armor.

"We won't be able to defeat them all with just the two of us and only one flyable dragon," said Astrid. Tenor let out an annoyed screech and flapped his wings sharply. "Okay, two flyable dragons. But that still won't be enough to defeat that whole fleet. But we could slow them down if we use our arrows and fire blasts sparingly."

"I have an idea," Tuffnut piped up.

"What is it?" asked Astrid, annoyed.

"We trick them into thinking there are more of us then there actually is," said Tuffnut. "And I have a lot more pranks and Lokiish things running through my head." Astrid rolled her eyes.

"Tuffnut, this is no time for pranks or Lokiing," she said. "There are times in life when you have to be serious or people can die, we can die, Ruffnut can die."

"I know I am taking this seriously," said Tuffnut. "I seriously have some ideas, good ideas."

"I'm sure you do," said Astrid. "But you know when it's still dark out, and I'm out with Stormfly?"

"Uh, I do now," said Tuffnut, confused.

"Well, I spend everyday training for situations like this," said Astrid. "That's why we're going to do it my way."

"But I have some things that can help," said Tuffnut desperately.

"I believe you Tuffnut," said Astrid.

"No, you don't," Tuffnut pouted. "You only believe that I'll mess this up and get us all killed." Tenor let out a sharp bark, getting their attention. He sat casually on his haunches.

"Why don't, you set up your defenses Astrid," he said. "And Tuffnut can set up his. Barf, Belch, Stormfly, and myself will lend a wing of course." He was so calm and collected, like this was nothing to him.

"Great idea," said Astrid. "Lets get to work."

"That's my sister out there guys," said Tuffnut, seriously. "If anything happened to her I couldn't live with myself."

"Then snapped to it," said Tenor. They all left the room and got right to work, the three dragons lending a wing.

Back on the wild dragons' island, the other Berkians and Draconians had reached the gorge. They looked over the top of the wall of the gorge, and saw all the wild dragons surrounding both Fishlegs and Serenity. The two humans seemed unharmed. The wild dragons were inspecting them. They seemed more interested in Serenity than Fishlegs. Hiccup turned to Re and Aurora.

"How do you plan on getting passed those guys?" he asked.

"My way," Re said. He turned to Meatlug. "We will get your Fishlegs back."

"Thank you, your majesty," said Meatlug. Re and Aurora looked back down into the gorge.

"We wait until dawn," said Re. They all agreed to this and settled down to wait.


	9. Edge of Disaster pt 2

**Edge of Disaster pt. 2**

* * *

Serenity sat in the middle of the gorge surrounded by the wild dragons. She was afraid but Re and Aurora had taught her to never let fear show on her face, especially around wild dragons. She sat very still as the dragons inspected her. One was a green Monstrous Nightmare, the other a purple Nadder.

"There's something different about this female," said the green one. "She doesn't seem scared at all."

"Unlike that other one," said the purple dragon. "That one will not stop whimpering." She looked over at Fishlegs, who was curled in a ball surrounded by the three Nadders. The green Nightmare turned back to Serenity. He lowered his snout slightly and smelled her. He sighed with pleasure when he smelled her sweet aroma.

"Oh, can you smell that Firescale?" he said. "This human smells like dragonnip." Firescale smelled Serenity as well.

"Hey, you're right," said the purple dragon.

"The lawn of my dragon hospital is full of it," Serenity said softly. "When it gets too tall I cut it down and make it into a special perfume." The two dragons drew back in surprise.

"You can speak to us?" asked Firescale.

"Yes ma'am," said Serenity. "I learned it as a child ma'am." The green dragon turned towards the other dragons.

"Hey Boss, you've got to come see this one," he called. An aqua green and red Nadder approached them. The way he held himself told Serenity that he was important. He glanced down at her, twisting his head a bit so he could see her better. Serenity looked right back at him.

"Are you the leader?" asked Serenity. She kept her voice calm and gentle. The lead dragon also looked surprise.

"No human has ever spoken to us before," he said. "And certainly not in our own tongue."

"I am the only one sir," Serenity said, keeping the respect strong in her voice. The lead dragon lowered his head.

"What's your name human?" he asked.

"Serenity, what's yours?" Serenity asked.

"Dartflame," said the Nadder. "This is Firescale, and Burnhide." He gestured to the Nightmare and purple Nadder.

"Can we keep this one?" asked Firescale. "She's so friendly."

"And she doesn't smell dangerous at all," said Burnhide. Dartflame considered.

"I suppose we can keep this one," he said. "It would be a shame to kill such a rare human." He turned to Serenity again. "Stand up." Serenity obeyed and got to her feet. She brushed herself off. Dartflame lowered his head to her level. Serenity reached her hand out to touch him. He drew back, growling. Serenity smiled at him, looking him right the eyes.

"It's okay," she said in her softest voice. "You don't have to fear me." Dartflame relaxed and allowed her to touch him. She stroked his snout, being very careful. It was then that Serenity noticed the hundreds of scars on all three dragons. They were in various sizes and lengths.

"What happened to you all?" Serenity asked sadly. Dartflame let out a sad moan.

"Humans," he said. "Humans happened. We've all been hurt by them." He looked at the ground sadly.

"I understand," said Serenity. "Humans have hurt me too." The dragon looked up in time to see Serenity trace the thin scar on her face. This surprised the dragon even further.

"Did those hunters give you that?" he asked.

"No, the hunters don't even know I exist," said Serenity. "I got this when I was a very young child. My original family beat me up, threw me outside in the rain, and left me for dead. I would have died if it wasn't for your kind."

"Why would they do that?" asked Firescale.

"Because I was being friends with a dragon," Serenity explained. The three dragons looked at each other. "And I am very sorry for what's happened to you."

"As are we you," said Burnhide. Dartflame turned back towards the rest of his group. "Keep an eye on this girl, I'm going to make my rounds."

"Yes Boss," said the two dragons. Dartflame walked off. Firescale turned to Serenity and lowered her snout. Serenity stroked her, smiling.

Up on the gorge wall: Hiccup, Snotlout, and Johann were watching the dragons below. They were waiting for the Draconians to come and get Serenity and Fishlegs back. They watched as some of the wild dragons circled around Fishlegs; sniffing, growling, and snapping at him. He seemed awful nervous. Serenity on the other hand seemed very content with the two dragons next to her. She seemed to be speaking to them in dragontongue. The two dragons spoke back to her, they seemed very content with her too.

Suddenly a loud roar filled the sky. All the wild dragons looked up as Re and Aurora flew low over the gorge. They landed on a low ledge, and the wild dragons could now see the crowns on their heads.

"Your majesty," said Dartflame, with surprised. He and his group bowed in greeting. "What brings you to our humble island."

"That female human," said Re, pointing to Serenity. "She belongs to me."

"Really?" said Dartflame. "Well, that would explain a lot." Re beckoned to Serenity and she ran to him. Serenity mounted Aurora.

"What about this other one?" Dartflame asked, looking at Fishlegs.

"He's not ours," said Re. "But he's not a hunter either. You can let him go too."

"What about those other humans on the backs of dragons?" asked Dartflame.

"Those are our allies," said Aurora. "They are fighting against the hunters as well. And it would really make a difference if you worked together with them to bring down these hunters."

"What if they turn on us?" asked Dartflame.

"Then they will have to answer to us," said Re. "And possibly to Lord Draco himself." Dartflame sighed.

"Very well," he said. "Where are these humans?" Re smiled, pleased.

"Hiccup!" he called. "You can come out now!" Hiccup, Snotlout, Johann, and all the dragons came out of hiding. The wild dragons were edgy but didn't attack. Meatlug reunited with Fishlegs. Hiccup turned to Re.

"What did you tell them?" he wanted to know.

"I told them you were not hunters," said Re. "And that if you ever turned on the dragon race you would have to answer to the two of us, and possibly to Lord Draco himself."

"Fair enough," said Hiccup. "We should get back to the edge, check up on those guys."

"Good, and my instincts tell me these folks should tag along," said Aurora. "Who knows what we'll come back to."

"And if we come back to nothing?" asked Toothless.

"Then we'll send Dartflame and his friends to Draconia," said Aurora. Dartflame looked surprised again.

"I never told you my name," he said. Aurora smiled at him.

"I saw it in your head," she said. "I have magic you see."

"Oh, so it wasn't your instincts that told you we should tag along," said Dartflame.

"I am not to reveal my gifts to these humans," said Aurora. "Like you, Lord Draco doesn't trust humans entirely either."

"The hunters are wherever these dragon riding humans are based," said Dartflame.

"And we all could use your help in driving them away," said Aurora.

"Of course ma'am," said Dartflame. Aurora turned to Firescale.

"Can I ask you to look after our dragon healer?" she asked, gesturing to Serenity. "We may need her help if one of us gets hurt." The wild dragons looked surprised again.

"You've been keeping things from us," said Dartflame. "You didn't tell us you were a healer, nor that you knew our king and queen."

"I don't brag," said Serenity.

"You haven't answered my question," said Aurora. Firescale smiled.

"I will be glad to your majesty," she said. Serenity got off the queen and mounted on the other dragon.

"Why are we bringing these dragons?" asked Snotlout.

"They've been injured by dragon hunters," said Serenity. "That's why they have all these scars." Hiccup considered. Then the picture became clear.

"The hunters drove these dragons to attack Johann knowing we would come help," he said. "They set a trap and we flew right into it."

"And those hunters are probably attacking the Edge as we speak," said Re. Hiccup grunted in frustration and mounted Toothless.

"Don't lose your head Hiccup," said Aurora. "You've still got riders and dragons defending the Edge." The other riders mounted their dragons, Johann rode on Hookfang. They took off, the wild dragons followed the king and queen. They flew far from the island and headed for the Edge.

On Dragon's Edge, Astrid, Tuffnut, and the dragons watched as two dragon hunting ships sailed towards the base. The sun was rapidly setting. Astrid turned to Tenor. He was itching to go.

"Tenor, you're in charge of this," she said, handing him the Dragon Eye.

"I will guard it with my life Ms. Astrid," said Tenor. He took the artifact and put it in his saddlebags. Astrid mounted Stormfly.

"Get to your post," she said.

"I will say, I've never used human weapons before," said Tenor. "This'll be interesting." He spread his wings and flew down to a catapult that had a bucket of Nightmare gel in the iron basket. Tuffnut was in charge of the giant crossbow on Astrid's house. Everyone was ready. The ships were getting closer. When they were in range Astrid gave the signal and Tuffnut fired the crossbow at one of the ships. The bolts sailed through the air and punctured the haul. Tuffnut also fired several flaming bolts, setting the sails on fire. That ship sank in seconds. The other ship got a little closer. Astrid signaled Tenor. He set the bucket on fire and launched it at the ship. It burned and sank. Astrid rejoined the other two in the clubhouse.

"Nicely done guys," she said.

"We dragons don't usually fire weapons of that sort," said Tenor. "We just use the weapons we were born with. Am I right Stormfly?" The Nadder squawked and flexed her spines.

"You think we should inform Heather of this?" Tenor asked.

"Good idea," said Astrid. "We'll continue fighting them off. See if she can give us a hand." Tenor nodded and took off again.

By now the sun had set and it was dark out. Tenor flew silently over the water and the dragon hunting ships. The hunters had landed on the shores. Tenor could see Ryker and Dagur. Heather and Windshear were nowhere in sight. Several foot soldiers had been sent to attack the base. Suddenly they flew right over him and hovered in the air facing him.

"Hello Ms. Heather," said Tenor.

"You guys didn't go rescue Johann," said Heather.

"Well, we didn't," said Tenor. "Hiccup, Snotlout, Fishlegs, and my comrades went. Hiccup made the very clever call of having the rest of us stay behind."

"I'll help in any way I can," said Heather. "Ryker doesn't know they split up yet." Tenor giggled.

"Idiot," he said. "Hopefully the other riders are on their way."

"Great, I'll see what I can about Ruffnut," said Heather.

"And I'll go give the remaining riders a wing," Tenor said. They both flew off.

Tenor went back to Astrid and Tuffnut. He fired at a bunch of hunters that were advancing on them. He killed several of them with his venomous bite. He then landed beside the two riders.

"Thanks," said Astrid. "What did Heather say?"

"Ryker doesn't know you guys split up," said Tenor. "Also Heather will get Ruffnut to safety. So, all we have to do is hold them off until Hiccup gets here."

"That's going to be difficult," said Astrid. "Clubhouse, now." Tuffnut mounted Tenor and they went back to the clubhouse.

Astrid was under stress again. She paced the clubhouse. Tenor and Tuffnut watched before Tenor said something.

"I can take out quite a lot of those hunters," he said.

"We can also go with my plans," piped up Tuffnut. Astrid considered. Tenor pawed the ground impatiently.

"Well, what have we got to loose," said Astrid. "Tenor, you take out as many as you can while Tuffnut and I set up. But don't kill Ryker remember." Tenor nodded.

"We may need your help for some of my ideas," said Tuffnut. Tenor beamed. He spread his wings and took off.

Using the night sky as his cover, Tenor dive bombed the hunters and blasted them. With his fire and his venom he managed to kill most of the hunters. As he circled around for another attack, he saw Ruffnut take off on Windshear. They flew out of sight and Tenor suspected they were going to find Hiccup and the other riders. He felt relieved and dived at the hunters again. He killed several more. He had just sunk a small rowboat when Astrid and Stormfly pulled up beside him.

"Tenor, we need to round up the Night Terrors," Astrid called. "With their numbers they can overwhelm the hunters, preventing them from attacking."

"Oh, okay," said Tenor, slightly taken aback. He turned and followed Stormfly to the Night Terrors' hide out. Tenor called them out and they hovered in front of the two dragons.

"What do you need us to do?" asked Silvereye. Tenor relayed the question to Astrid.

"We need you to form a Night Fury," Astrid said. The Night Terrors squealed with delight. Tenor came up with another idea.

"Silvereye, do you think your formation can fit around me?" he asked.

"I think so, why?" asked Silvereye.

"Well, your formation has mastered the look and movement of a Night Fury," said Tenor.

"But we lack the fire power," Silvereye finished. "I see where you're going with this." He turned to his squadron. "Form a Night Fury around Tenor." The Night Terrors did so. Tenor soon found himself inside the formation, surrounded by the little dragons. They followed Astrid and Stormfly back to the outpost.

"Wait for a signal from Tuffnut," Astrid instructed. The nightly dragons paused in the air. Astrid and Stormfly flew off.

They waited only a few minuets. Then they heard Tuffnut bellow a war cry. The nightly dragons flew at the hunters. The Night Terrors would open the mouth of their formation and Tenor fired a plasma blast at the hunters. They kept it up until Ryker shot Silvereye with a dragonroot arrow. It didn't kill him, but knocked him out of the sky.

"You're not going to let him get away with that are you?" Tenor said to the remaining Night Terrors. They disbursed and swarmed the hunters. Tenor dived at the hunters as well, continuing to fire at them. Astrid, Tuffnut, Stormfly, and the Zibbleback were successful in overwhelming the hunters. Then the sun broke over the horizon and they all saw Hiccup and the other riders and dragons flying towards them. They didn't hesitate in attacking the hunters. Heather called for Windshear, who Ruffnut was still riding. When the silver dragon came to a stop along the cliff Heather was hanging from, Heather jumped down and landed behind Ruffnut. She shoved Ruff off her dragon and flew off. Ruffnut landed safely on Barf's saddle.

With these new numbers; the Riders of Berk, the Draconians, and the wild dragons drove the hunters off their shores. Everyone cheered when the hunters' ships turned and sailed away.

Everyone gathered on the landing strip in front of the stables. The wild dragons went into the stables to rest their wings. The Night Terrors grabbed Silvereye and headed back to their hideout. The riders dismounted. Hiccup was by no means impressed.

"How'd you manage to fight so many of them with just the three of you?" he asked.

"It's called team work," said Astrid proudly. She then turned to Tenor. "Thanks for your help, again." Tenor nodded, beaming. "Do you still have the Dragon Eye." Tenor nosed through his bag and pulled out the Dragon Eye. He handed it to Hiccup.

"Nice job Tenor," Hiccup said, taking the artifact. Just then Fishlegs came outside looking stressed.

"We really need to get these guys back to their island," he said. "We don't have the room for them here."

"We'll handle that," said Re. "We'll take them to Draconia."

"Thanks Re," said Hiccup.

The wild dragons followed the king and queen away from Dragon's Edge. Serenity reunited with Tenor and he took her flying. Astrid apologized to the Twins. Things went back to normal, for the time being.


	10. Shock and Awe

**Shock and Awe**

* * *

Early one morning Tenor went running along the edge of the island. The sun was just barely up. He had just gone on a night flight with Serenity. She went to bed when they got back, and he went running. He went all the way around the island without getting tired.

He was running along a lagoon about a mile from the outpost. There was a light fog over the water and rocks. Tenor ran at top speed, jumping over any obstacles in his way. He was having such a blast. Fishlegs and Meatlug appeared right in front of him so suddenly that he had to slam on the brakes hard. Luckily he didn't hit Fishlegs or Meatlug. However, his good mood was gone. He glared at the two of them.

"Hey Tenor," said Fishlegs. "I just saw something in the lagoon." Tenor hissed.

"Don't, ever do that again Fishlegs," he said, irritated. "Now what is so important?"

"I saw something in the lagoon," said Fishlegs. "A creature of some sort." Tenor scowled.

"How early did you get up Fishlegs?" he asked.

"It's true sir," said Meatlug. "We thought it was the Twins playing Loki Day on us, but there weren't anywhere near the water."

"Well, what ever it was I'm pretty sure it's gone now," said Tenor. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have another mile to run." Without waiting for a reply he went around Meatlug and continued running. Fishlegs and Meatlug took off, heading for the clubhouse.

Tenor finished the last mile then headed for the clubhouse as well. When he got there, he saw the riders having breakfast. Fishlegs and Meatlug hadn't gotten there yet. Tenor was pleased with himself.

"Hey everyone," he said.

"Hey Tenor," said Hiccup. "How was your run?"

"Ah, it was going great," said Tenor. "Until I got interrupted by Fishlegs." He stretched his wings to keep them from cramping up.

"Why do you have run when you have those?" asked Snotlout, pointing at Tenor's wings.

"Because I can," said Tenor. He folded his wings back up. Just then they were joined by Fishlegs. He seemed hyped up.

"Speak of the devil," Tenor said. He stepped aside to give Fishlegs the spot light.

"I saw something in the lagoon," Fishlegs said. "It was like nothing I've ever seen before. Tenor didn't believe me, but I know what I saw."

"I never said that," said Tenor. "I just said it's probably long gone by now. There's not a whole lot to eat around here at the moment. I've had to fly miles out to sea to find a decent meal."

"Good point," said Hiccup. "But for the sake of argument what did it look like this thing?"

"It had two heads, maybe three," said Fishlegs. "And it made this weird sound, like sizzling."

"You sure it wasn't the fog? It can play really weird tricks on you," said Astrid. Fishlegs groaned in frustration.

"I know what I saw," he said. "And if you won't believe me, I'll prove it." He stormed out of the room.

"Well, all that running made me hungry," said Tenor. "I'll see you guys later." He left the room and flew away.

He soared over the ocean, looking for fish. There wasn't a single sea bird. Tenor dove in and out of the water. He managed to find a few small fish. He thought he would have to make an overnight trip, but then he saw the fin of something large emerge from the water. Tenor hovered in the air to get a good look at it. His eyes brightened when he recognized the fish as a sword fish.

"Oh, thank you Draco," he said. He dove after the fish. It was a good struggle to kill the fish. It flapped violently, trying to spear Tenor with its sword. But Tenor managed to snag it between his paws and bit it with his venomous bite, killing it instantly. He then hauled it back towards the island.

He flew by the lagoon and spotted Fishlegs hovering over the water on Meatlug. A rope dangled from Meatlug's saddle into the water. Fishlegs seemed about to fall asleep. Tenor flew over and hovered in front of them.

"You still trying to find that thing?" he asked.

"I know it's in there," said Fishlegs. "I'm going to find it, and what is that?" He pointed at Tenor's catch.

"It's a sword fish," said Tenor. "Not my favorite, but I take what I can get. So, how do you plan on finding this thing?"

"I have a fish on this rope," said Fishlegs. "All Thor's creatures have to eat."

"Somehow I doubt it's Thor's creature," said Tenor. "But anyway, I'm going to see how Serenity's doing. See you later." He turned and flew off.

He headed for the yurt. He was pleased to see Serenity waiting for him. She looked surprised to see the big fish. Tenor set it down and landed. Serenity got to her feet.

"That's quite a catch," she said.

"I know," said Tenor. "And an unexpected one too. I thought I would have to eat the ocean's scraps." Serenity threw her arms around his neck. Tenor purred and hugged her back.

"Fishlegs things he saw something in the lagoon," said Tenor.

"Well, the ocean is full of strange creatures," said Serenity. "Dragons are just some of them."

"Very true," said Tenor. "Maybe he did see something, but it might not be there anymore."

"Reminds me of Nessie," said Serenity. "No human has ever gotten a good look at her."

"Also true," said Tenor. He nuzzled her shoulder. She sat down again. Tenor turned to his kill. Having live with dragons all her life, Serenity was used to their eating habits. Tenor tore big chunks of fish with his teeth and strong jaws.

He was almost half way through it when Hiccup and Toothless appeared over the yurt.

"Fishlegs thinks he found the creature in the lagoon," said Hiccup. "If there is something there, I was hoping one of you could identify it." Tenor and Serenity exchanged a glance, Tenor with his mouth full.

"Alright," said Serenity. She got to her feet. Tenor swallowed the fish meat and Serenity mounted him. They took off and followed Hiccup to the lagoon.

The other riders were there already. The water was very still. Fishlegs explained that he saw the creature heading out of the lagoon and had Meatlug seal off the exit. This irritated both Tenor and Serenity. Snotlout, however, was completely skeptical. Hookfang was hovering low over the water. Suddenly an animal jumped out of the water, glided over Hookfang, and splashed back into the water. It was deep ocean blue, it had the body of a manta ray, and the head of a swordfish. It's body crackled with static. They all watched it glide though the water.

"That's a dragon," said Hiccup.

"And not just any dragon, it's a Sea Shocker," said Fishlegs excitedly. The Sea Shocker jumped again. It sailed though the air towards Tenor, then splashed down.

"Wow," Serenity sighed.

The riders landed on the shore of the lagoon. Serenity and Tenor landed on a rock, watching the Sea Shocker leap about. Static covered its wings. Hiccup and Fishlegs were very excited.

"I got to say Fishlegs, I'm impressed," said Hiccup.

"I know, a real live Sea Shocker and I found him," said Fishlegs.

"You mean you trapped him," said Tuffnut. Hiccup turned to Serenity and Tenor.

"Have either of you seen Sea Shockers before?" he asked.

"A few," said Serenity. "They're pretty fun to watch. They often hunt along side sharks and orca whales. They are often seen as pilot fish for larger sea dragons like the Whale Dragons." The Shocker jumped again. "Unlike Scauldrons they depend on their pods for survival."

"Which is why we should let this one go," said Tenor.

"But I still want to study it," said Fishlegs.

"We have to he careful not to hurt him," said Hiccup. The riders got back on their dragons and flew back out over the water. The Shocker was swimming erratically, he looked very upset.

"Way to go Fishlegs," said Snotlout sarcastically. "Let's mess with the angry zapperheads." The Shocker jumped again, narrowly missing Meatlug.

"Snotlout's right Fishlegs," said Hiccup. "He looks pretty agitated we should help him out of the cove."

"Alright, but first I want to take some measurements," said Fishlegs eagerly.

"Now Fishlegs," Tenor roared. "You should know by now what I do with dragon trappers." Fishlegs grew nervous again. The Shocker suddenly began leaping out at the other dragons, sizzling. The dragons dodged him and fired back. The Shocker jumped at Stormfly. She squawked in surprise and shot several spikes at the Shocker, one of them stabbed his back. The Shocker roared in pain. Serenity gasped.

"No!" cried Fishlegs. "Astrid how could you?"

"Stormfly was just reacting to being attacked," said Astrid.

"Yeah Fishlegs, what did you expect?" said Snotlout. The Shocker jumped out of the water and beached himself on the rocks.

"I'll go help him," said Serenity. She turn Tenor around. But Fishlegs suddenly blocked her way.

"I'm getting tired of you showing me up Serenity," he shouted. "First the Snow Wraiths, then the wild dragons on that island. Well not this time. I found this dragon, this is my rescue and I don't need your help; not now, not ever." Both Serenity and Tenor looked surprised. The riders gasped. Serenity though for a moment. Then she said something to Tenor in Dragontongue. Tenor nodded in agreement. Serenity looked back at Fishlegs.

"Alright Fishlegs," she said calmly. "Have it your way." She clicked the reins and Tenor sped up. He circled around Meatlug, the headed for the horizon and out of sight.

"That was mean Fishlegs," said Astrid.

"We're waisting time," said Fishlegs. "That Shocker needs to get back into the water." He turned Meatlug around and headed for the rocks where the wild dragon was stuck. He landed on a taller rock, dismounted, and slid down the rock to the Shocker. The poor thing was in complete distress. Fishlegs tried to approach it, but the two heads roared at him and zapped him back.

"I don't trust this human Zag," said one head.

"I don't either Zap," said the other head. "He's the one who trapped us in here." They saw Fishlegs approaching again. The hissed and squirmed to get away. Fishlegs darted forward and pulled the Nadder spike out of the dragon's hide. This surprised them.

"I'm sorry I locked you in here," said Fishlegs. ZagZap looked at each other.

"Very unusual for a human," said Zag. "Almost reminds me of that one human we pulled out of the ocean a few years ago, you remember the one?"

"Who could forget him," said Zap. "He spoke our language. No human has done that before or since."

"Shame we had to leave him," said Zag. "But he's a land dweller, and we live in the ocean." Suddenly they felt the Gronkle lift them off the rocks. Then she dropped him into the water. ZagZap swam from the shore and headed for the mouth of the lagoon. The other riders were blasting the wall that Fishlegs had made. ZagZap picked up speed, Meatlug flew overhead. The Shocker paid her no attention. The made a B-line towards the open sea. Suddenly they stopped.

"Did you see that?" asked Zag.

"Yeah I did," said Zap. They could see two figures heading right for them, one green, one red.

"Scauldrons!" cried Zag. They turned and swam back into the cove, looking for a place to hide. Unfortunately the two Scauldrons were hot on their fins.

Above, the riders attempted to help the Shocker evade the Scauldrons. They blasted them. For a while it seemed to be working. But the Scauldrons were getting more and aggressive. They began shooting back at the riders. It was getting harder to keep the Scauldrons away from the Shocker. Down in the water ZagZap was running out of options. They looked around franticly for a place to hide.

"There," said Zag. He steered them towards a deep hole on the floor of the lagoon. The dived down into it, the Scauldrons right behind them.

"Please help us Lord Draco!" ZagZap cried in unison.

The rider watched from above. All the sea dragons had vanished, leaving a ring of bubbles on the surface. Everything grew quiet.

"Did he just?" said Fishlegs, unable to finish the sentence. The Shocker didn't emerge. Everyone feared the worst. But then the Shocker leapt out of the water, alive and well. He splashed back into the water. The Scauldrons were no where in sight, yet. The way to the sea was clear for the moment. The Shocker made for the opening.

"He's making a break for the opening," said Fishlegs. He turned Meatlug around and followed the Shocker. The other riders did the same. Suddenly Hiccup saw a third Scauldron heading for the Shocker.

"Another Scauldron," he announced. Fishlegs brought Meatlug to a halt over the water, the Shocker stopped as well. Fishlegs looked from the Scauldron a head of them, to the two closing in behind them. He took a huge breath and stood up on the saddle. Meatlug grew concerned.

"This is going to hurt," Fishlegs said to himself. With that he jumped off Meatlug and into the water. He splashed into the water and managed to grab hold of the Sea Shocker. The Scauldrons got closer, hunger in their eyes. The Shocker lit up wit static. Fishlegs pushed their two heads together. It made a huge ball of electricity that surrounded the Shocker. It was very strong and pushed the Scauldrons way far away, leaving them badly stunned. The ball of electricity also launched Fishlegs out of the water, he soared through the air, and crashed onto the shore, leaving him stunned as well.

They riders quickly rushed to his side. Hiccup jumped off Toothless.

"Fishlegs, are you okay?" he asked, worried. Fishlegs sat up, wobbling badly.

"I think so," he said.

"That was the gutsiest thing I've ever seen," said Hiccup, impressed.

"I know," said Fishlegs proudly. Just then there came a Night Fury call from the air. Everyone looked to see a black speck heading for the island. The riders got on their dragons and flew back out to see it better.

"It's Serenity, she came back," said Astrid. Serenity and Tenor flew towards them. They circled around and pulled a long side them.

"Thanks for coming back Serenity," said Hiccup. Serenity smiled.

"Don't thank me just yet," she said. She pointed out towards the ocean. They followed her gaze and saw the fins of more Sea Shockers heading for the cove. The reunited with their missing Shocker. Together they drove the Scauldrons away.

"You found he pod," said Hiccup.

"I did," said Serenity. "I told them where their friend was. His name is ZagZap, by the way." Fishlegs beamed.

"You did it Fishlegs, you won," said Astrid.

"We did it," Fishlegs corrected. "Thanks Serenity, and I'm sorry for snapping at you." Serenity smiled softly.

"Apology accepted Fishlegs," she said.

"Look," said Tenor. He pointed towards the sunset. They watched the Sea Shockers leap out of the water with joy. And in the distance the riders saw a large black fin.

"That's Shark," said Tenor. "You remember her?"

"Yup," said Hiccup. "She's a big, black sea dragon."

"She's been making a solid effort to stop dragon cannibalism," said Serenity. "And has been successful recently."

"Can we go already?" asked Snotlout. "I'm hungry." The riders turned and headed back to the outpost. Serenity and Tenor went back to their yurt.

The pod of Sea Shockers joined Shark. She was happy to see them together again. She turned and led them from the island.

"We must get back to the Beweilderbeast," said the alpha. "We've been away from his waters for too long."

"Yes, that is where we're going," said Shark. "He's been wondering where you were."

"Say did you know there's a human that speaks our language?" said the lead Shocker.

"Serenity?" said Shark, casually. "Yes I've met her. She's valuable to our kind. Hurry now, if we want to get to the Arctic before dawn." Shark led the Sea Shockers deeper into the sea


	11. A Time to Skrill

**A** **Time to Skrill**

* * *

The riders of Berk received a distress call from Outcast Island, saying that the island had to evacuate due to an attack. This put them on alert. The Outcasts weren't easily chased away. So Tenor put Serenity in her mountain cave, incase this was another dragon hunter scheme. Then he and the riders took off from Dragon's Edge and headed for Outcast Island.

It took them several hours but soon they reached it. They landed in the middle of the Outcast village. It was dead quiet, which was very unusual for this island. Not only that, but the buildings were torn apart. The riders searched for clues.

"It's weird I don't see any arrows or damage from catapults," said Hiccup.

"And were is everyone?" asked Fishlegs. "It's like they've just vanished."

"Maybe they evacuated," Astrid suggested.

"What would drive the Outcasts to evacuate?" asked Fishlegs.

"Earthquake?" said Tenor. "Would explain the damage." Hiccup's attention was drawn to a tall rock, with a burn mark on it.

"It think this might have something to do with it," he said. Everyone gathered around the rock.

"That came from a dragon," said Hiccup.

"Dammit, why can't it ever be just an earthquake?" Tenor said.

"Does this burn mark look familiar to you Tenor?" said Hiccup. Tenor looked at the burn mark again. It resembled a bolt of lightning.

"Yeah, Skrill," he said. "And he must have been awful mad."

"We should check out the glacier where I sealed the Skrill," said Hiccup.

"How do you know it's the same Skrill?" asked Tenor.

"I don't, that's why I want to look in the glacier," Hiccup said as he mounted Toothless.

"Right," said Tenor. He spread his wings and took off, following the riders.

They flew to the large glacier where Hiccup had frozen the Skrill. Hiccup led the way to the spot where he'd closed the exit. They found it empty.

"Yup the Skrill is gone," said Snotlout.

"We have to find him before he hurts someone," said Hiccup. "Or before the hunters get a hold of him."

"Good plan," said Tenor.

"Where would he be heading?" Hiccup asked Fishlegs.

"Since Skrills draw lighting from storms, I'm guessing he's following that storm," said Fishlegs. He pointed to heavy clouds in the distance, lighting flashed every few minuets.

"Looks like it's heading for Berk," said Tenor. "Good thing my comrades are there already." In no time the riders go on their dragons and headed for Berk, Tenor right beside them.

The flew as fast as they could and reached Berk in no time. They spotted the A Team surrounding an angry Skrill. It shot lighting in all directions. The A Team dogged it best they could.

"Looks like the A Team are already on the job," said Snotlout.

"Yeah, probably to advanced in their dragon training careers," said Hiccup. At that moment Re and Aurora took off and assisted the A Team.

"Will they reason with it?" asked Fishlegs. He sounded like he didn't want to get near it.

"Nah, even they know better then to try to reason with a mad Skrill," said Tenor. They then took off and assisted the other riders and dragons. Hiccup and Toothless distracted the Skrill, and the other riders got the A Team to safety. Some were severely stunned.

Hiccup and Toothless faced the Skrill. It gave Toothless a death glare. The two dragons roared at each other. Hiccup tried to steer Toothless out of the way, but he wouldn't budge. The Night Fury readied himself to fight the Skrill.

"Toothless what are you doing?" Hiccup asked, concerned. Toothless paid no attention. He opened his mouth to fire at the same time the Skrill did. They both fired at the same time. The two shots hit each other which created a powerful force that sent both dragons fly in opposite directions, and sent Hiccup flying out of the saddle. The Skrill flew off and Hiccup and Toothless fell towards the ground. Toothless landed hard on a wheelbarrow full of potatoes. Hiccup managed to pull out his leather wings and glided through the air. He steered towards the closest airborne dragon, which was Re. Hiccup managed to land, quite smoothly on his back. Re roared in surprised and thrashed around to try and get the thing of his back. He clearly wasn't expecting someone to suddenly fly onto his back. He looked over his wing to see who was there, and relaxed a bit when he saw you it was.

"Sorry Re, just thought I'd drop in," Hiccup said, awkwardly.

"Drop in or give me a heart attack?" Re asked. He then noticed the leather wings. "Where did get those?"

"I'll explain later," said Hiccup. "Right now I need to get my dragon." He pointed to where he'd seen Toothless crash. Re steered himself towards the plaza and landed. The other riders and dragons did the same. Hiccup jumped off Re and ran to Toothless, who thankfully was unharmed. Stoic landed Skullcrusher beside Re.

"Quite the daring battle strategy, going nose to nose with a Skrill," said Stoic, impressed.

"I'd say so," Re agreed.

"It wasn't my strategy," Hiccup clarified, stroking Toothless's head. At that moment Tenor landed, having finished scanning the damage.

"Not a whole lot of damage to report," he said, folding his wings. "Only one house got hit." He pointed up the hill. They followed his gaze and saw that Stoic and Hiccup's house had been scorched.

"My house!" Stoic cried. He ran up the hill, Skullcrusher right behind him.

"Why is that surprising?" asked Tenor. "You surround yourself with dragons and your houses are made of wood."

"Funny, that Stoic's house is the only one that got hit," said Astrid.

"That would explain why the Skrill went to Outcast Island before coming here," said Fishlegs.

"It's not randomly attacking," said Hiccup. "It's looking for me and Toothless. We're the ones you trapped him in that glacier."

"But you had no choice," said Astrid. "It was either that or let Dagur have it."

"You want to explain that to the Skrill? said Hiccup. "We need to get it back into the glacier."

"Something tells me it won't be as easy this time," said Tenor. The riders got on their dragons and took off, Tenor followed.

They landed just outside the old arena. Hiccup filled them all in on his plan to get the Skrill back into the ice. The other riders weren't sure if they liked the plan.

"Let us back you up out there," said Astrid. "The Skrill won't stand a chance if we were all there.

"And it knows that I think," said Hiccup. "It won't show itself unless it knows its just me and Toothless."

"You know, I could have Serenity talk to him," Tenor said. "We could avoid anyone getting electrocuted."

"Probably not a good idea," said Hiccup. "I doubt this Skrill will listen to her." Tenor sighed and didn't argue. Hiccup mounted Toothless and took off. The other riders got on their dragons and headed in a different direction, Tenor followed.

They flew back to the glacier that the Skrill had broken out of. They landed next to the crevasse. Fishlegs and Meatlug began making the crevasse deeper, making sure the Skrill wouldn't break out a second time. Now all they had to do wait. Astrid turned to Tenor.

"You're being vary overprotective of Serenity you know," she said. "It's like every time she so much as skins her knee, you rush to her side like she's broken her leg."

"I have a very good reason to be so worried about her getting hurt," said Tenor. "If she gets hurt, there's no one out here to help her. I know nothing about human anatomy, so there's very little I can do for her. The least I can do is prevent her from getting hurt in the first place." Before Astrid could response Hiccup came flying towards them, the Skrill right behind him.

"There they are," said Astrid to the others. Hiccup steered Toothless towards the opening in the glacier. The Skrill followed but then stopped when Hiccup and Toothless vanished inside. It roared and looked up at the other riders.

"I think he knows it's a trap," said Snotlout.

"What'd you expect?" said Tenor. "It's a Skrill not a sheep." The Skrill then shot lightning at the opening. Huge chunks of ice fell and blocked the opening.

"It's trapping Hiccup and Toothless in the cave," said Astrid, loudly. "As payback for trapping it." The riders got on their dragons and flew at the Skrill. Tenor took off as well. He watched the riders take on the Skrill. Tenor was careful to avoid the lightning shooting from the wild dragon. He waited until he was out of the Skill's sight, then fired a plasma blast at it. The Skrill spun around and faced Tenor. He growled, his mouth full of lightning. But then a look of recognition crossed his snout.

"Hey wait a minuet, I know you," he said. But before anymore could be said Hiccup and Toothless flew out of the glacier and hit the Skrill with another plasma blast. The Skrill roared in outrage.

"That's for locking us in there," Hiccup shouted. The Skrill fired lightning at them. Tenor got out of their way and joined the other riders. Hiccup clicked the stirrup and flew away from the glacier. The Skrill chased them, losing sight of the glacier and the other riders. It continued to shoot lightning at the Night Fury, not hitting him.

"Ok, new plan," Hiccup said. Toothless crooned as if to say; 'you have a plan?' "No I don't have one yet. We'll need to loose sight of the Skrill and to do that we'll need good cover." Suddenly the lights went on in his head. "Toothless head north." Toothless turned sharply and headed in a different direction. The Skrill followed them.

They headed for the ship graveyard. They had just reached it when the Skrill fired again. The shot narrowly missed Toothless, and caught his red tail fin on fire.

"Toothless hang on," Hiccup exclaimed. He steered his dragon towards the Reaper and they crashed on the deck. Hiccup jumped out and Toothless looked down at his tail. Hiccup scanned the sky, there was no sign of the Skrill.

"Looks like we lost the Skrill for now," he said. "Lets look at that tail." He then turned his attention to the damaged fin. "I'll get your spare." Hiccup looked through the saddlebag, and found it empty. "Apparently that was the spare." Suddenly lightning shot from the sky, hitting the deck near them. Hiccup and Toothless couldn't see the Skrill however. Hiccup began franticly searching around.

"We got to find something to fix that tail," he said. But all he say was empty barrels and cages. More lightning shot at them. Hiccup suddenly heard something creaking behind him. He turned and saw a mast falling towards them.

"Toothless look out!" he exclaimed, pulling Toothless out of the way of the mast. It crashed on the deck, missing them. Hiccup spotted the tattered sail attached to the mast, and beamed.

"Well thank you dragon hunters," he said. He quickly grabbed the sail and began mending the tail fin, Toothless waited quietly. The Skrill seemed to be out of lightning for the moment, but Hiccup knew it was recharging. He repaired the fin and got back on his dragon. The Skrill began firing again.

"Now how are we going to take out that Skrill?" Hiccup wondered aloud. "But then again, maybe we don't have to. I bet those dragon hunters would love to see this guy in action." He clicked the stirrup and Toothless took off. They left the graveyard, the Skrill right behind them.

The other riders and Tenor made their way back to Dragon's Edge to wait for Hiccup. Tenor brought Serenity back out. They all landed at the stables.

"What was it?" Serenity asked.

"The Skrill," said Astrid, glaring at her. "The same one we sealed in the glacier."

"Oh," said Serenity, very interested. She smiled to herself. Astrid grew mad.

"For Thor's sake, this not funny Serenity," she shouted. "Hiccup could be killed by that Skrill." Serenity took a huge breath.

"You're right," she said. Astrid scowled.

"Why do you even stay here if you're not going to help us fight these hunters?" she roared. "At least Tenor helps us out. But you just hide in your cave like a coward. If you're not going to fight then you don't belong here." Tenor growled. Serenity, however, stood very still. She'd been told before that she didn't belong, and she was used to it. Draconia was the one place she truly belonged, the dragons were her only friends. She turned to Tenor.

"Do you want to stay?" she asked quietly. Tenor considered.

"Yes, I do," he said. "I like fighting the bad guys and rescuing the dragons, it's my job."

"Well, when this Skrill is taken care of," said Serenity, wincing. "Will you fly me to Berk?" Tenor crooned sadly.

"I suppose," he said. Serenity patted his neck, then turned and headed back to the yurt. Tenor followed, at a slight distance. He hopped Hiccup would get back soon. At least he was nice to Serenity and let her have the Dragon Eye whenever Fishlegs wasn't using it. Tenor was sure that Hiccup would want Serenity to stay on the Edge. Serenity went into the yurt and closed the door. Tenor laid in the grass, watching the door.

Hiccup and Toothless soon found the hunters, the Skrill not far behind. Hiccup steered Toothless out of the cloud cover and they flew low over the water. The hunters didn't even see them due to the lightning coming from the Skrill. Hiccup could hear Dagur cheering and laughing, the sound was rather irritating.

"Stay low Toothless, they won't see us with this light show going on," said Hiccup. He steered Toothless back up into the clouds when the hunters had all their attention on the the Skrill. They circled the ship and watched the hunters fire at the Skrill. After a few minuets the wild dragon roared in outrage and splashed into the water.

"Looks like the hunters fell for it," said Hiccup. "Now let's go get that Skrill out of the water before they do." He steered Toothless back out of the clouds. The hunters had already snagged the downed dragon in a net. Hiccup clicked the stirrup and Toothless sped up. Hiccup whipped out a sword and was about to cut the rope attached to the net. But the hunters shot arrows at them, one of the arrows hitting Hiccup's arm. He flew Toothless away from the ship and the Skrill. Hiccup watched as the Skrill was hauled onboard the ship and put in a cage. Hiccup was forced to accept defeat. Toothless crooned with worry when he saw the arrow in Hiccup's forearm.

"I'm okay bud," Hiccup said panting. "Lets get back to the edge." He steered Toothless in the direction of the Edge. Hiccup pulled the arrow out of his arm.

When they got there, they found the other riders waiting at the stables. Toothless landed and Hiccup stayed in the saddle. The other riders were quick to notice his defeated expression.

"What happen?" asked Astrid.

"Long story," Hiccup said. "Lets talk in the club house." They all made their way towards the club house. When they got there, Tenor was there already. He was munching on a pile of fish he'd caught himself. Once everyone was assembled Hiccup told them all what had happened with the Skrill. Naturally they were all disappointed.

"You let the hunters capture the Skrill?" said Fishlegs.

"That wasn't the plan," said Hiccup. "They were supposed to just take it down and we would grab it away."

"So Dagur has the Skrill again?" said Snotlout. "Great." He threw his hands up in frustration.

"I screwed up," Hiccup confessed. "And I have no idea how to fix it." He sighed and looked at the ground. Astrid walked up to him.

"Everything you did, you did to protect that dragon and to protect us," she said softly. "Now it's not what you have to do to fix it, it's what we all have to do to fix it." Hiccup took several deep breaths.

"You're right," he said. "We have to get that Skrill back. Tenor which way was that storm heading?''

"East," said Tenor. "So, my guess is the hunters went west so the Skrill couldn't harness the lightning and attack them. Oh, and by the way Hiccup, you're bleeding." Hiccup turned to his wounded arm. It was indeed bleeding. Toothless licked the wound with his special saliva. Then he boosted Hiccup onto his back and ran out the door. Tenor spread his wings and flew after them. The other riders went to get their dragons.

Toothless ran to the yurt and found Serenity sitting in her chair. She looked up when the Night Fury approached her.

"Hello boys," she said, trying to sound cheerful. Hiccup was quick to notice.

"What's the matter with you?" he asked.

"I'm just bored," Serenity lied. "Now how about you?" She spotted his bleeding arm.

"I got shot by the hunters trying to retrieve the Skrill," Hiccup said. Serenity smiled to herself again. She then grabbed her bag. She took the Dragon Eye out of it and rummaged around, looking for the right tools.

"How long will this take?" Hiccup asked. "We have to head out and get the Skrill back."

"Not long," said Serenity. "I'm a fast sewer." Hiccup rolled up his sleeve and allowed Serenity to address the wound. It wasn't very big. She numbed the area, then quickly sewed it up. Hiccup stood there rather impatiently. But then Serenity wrapped up his arm in a bandage, and put her things away.

"That was fast," Hiccup said impressed.

"I know you're in a hurry," said Serenity. She set her bag down and leaned back in her chair, the Dragon Eye still in her lap. "I'm happier when I'm useful, which is why I agreed to hide this Dragon Eye for you." Hiccup mounted Toothless.

"If we bring the Skrill to you, could you train it?" he asked. "You're my last option." Serenity beamed.

"I'd be glad to," she said.

"Thanks," Hiccup said. He turned Toothless around and took off, Tenor decided to stay with his rider.

The riders flew west towards a group of island Hiccup suspected the hunters would be hiding out. Night fell as they neared the group of islands. Hiccup had Fishlegs scout the islands for any sign of the hunters. The other riders circled about and waited. While they waited Hiccup brainstormed for a way to release the Skrill. He figured it would follow them, since it still wanted to get even with Hiccup and Toothless. So the riders could lead it back to the Edge where Serenity would handle it.

Before long Fishlegs returned. He said he heard deep voiced on one of the islands. He led the riders to the spot. When they got there, they saw campfires below. The riders landed in the bushes and quietly dismounted. They hid in the bushes and looked out at the hunters. In the distance Hiccup could see a group of cages with dragons in them. He turned to the other riders.

"Right here's the plan," he said. But before he could continue Snotlout ran towards the hunters, hammer raised. Hiccup smacked his forehead.

"Okay, new plan," he said. "We'll use Snotlout and Hookfang as a distraction. The rest of us sneak around to those cages. Most likely that's where they're keeping the Skrill. Hookfang took off and went to help Snotlout. The other riders and dragons kept to the shadows and headed for the cages. Snotlout and Hookfang chased the group of hunters away. Hiccup went through the cages looking for the Skrill. So far he didn't see it. But then he spotted one cage that was in the shallow water, covered in a tarp.

"It must the one," said Hiccup. "It's the only one in the water." He snuck over to it, Toothless behind him. Hiccup pulled the tarp off the cage. The Skrill woke up and growled when he saw Hiccup. He could tell the dragon was very grouchy. Hiccup held his hand out to it, but the Skrill snapped at his fingers.

"It's okay pal, we're going to get you out of here," said Hiccup.

"It's far too late for that," said someone behind him. Hiccup turned and saw Dagur and Ryker standing there, no doubt alerted by the noise Snotlout and Hookfang had been making. The hunters had captured the riders and their dragons. A net was thrown over Toothless, and a muzzle was put on his snout.

"I told you he'd come back for my Skrill," said Dagur to Ryker. Two hunters grabbed Hiccup and pulled him away from the cage. They put him with the other riders. Hiccup began forming another plan. He turned to Astrid.

"You know what I'm thinking?" he said, looking back at the Skrill. "That the enemy of my enemy..."

"Might just kill us all?" Astrid finished.

"Yes," said Hiccup. "But he also might help us." He looked over at his Night Fury. "Toothless, the cage!" Toothless reared up, and threw the net off him. He ran to the Skrill's cage and attempted to flip it over, out of the water.

"What are you doing Night Fury?" the Skrill asked.

"Getting you out of there," Toothless said. He put his whole body into moving the cage. He was successful in flipping it over onto dry ground. He then quickly got out of the way as the Skrill climbed out of the cage and on top of it. He immediately pulled lightning from the clouds and glared down at the hunters. He shot lighting at them, and they scattered. The riders released their dragons and mounted up. Suddenly Ryker grabbed a bow and arrow and aimed it at the Skrill. Hiccup saw this and ran between the arrow and the dragon. Ryker fired and the arrow sailed towards Hiccup's chest. Toothless, thinking fast, ran between the arrow and Hiccup. The arrow hit him in the head. Hiccup ran to his dragon. He seemed dazed and winded, but not hurt. The arrow had bounced off his head and not stabbed him. The Skrill continued to attack the hunters. Hiccup mounted his dragon and they took off. They rejoined the other riders. They snagged the Skrill in a net that was laying around. They then took off and flew far from the islands and headed back towards Dragons's Edge. The Skrill dangling in the net, attached to Hookfang.

The sun came up as they neared their base. Serenity wasn't outside when they all landed next to the yurt. But Tenor was, and he jumped to his feet.

"Welcome back," he said.

"Hey Tenor is Serenity inside?" Hiccup asked. Tenor looked over at the Skrill, still in the net.

"I'll go get her," he said. He went into the yurt. Serenity was still asleep, and from the look on her face she was having a nice dream. Tenor sighed and nudged her. Serenity open her eyes and sat up. She smiled when she saw Tenor there.

"Hey lovely," he said. "The Skrill is here, he's out side." Serenity jumped out of bed and put her boots on. She went outside to find their riders surrounding the Skrill.

"Hey Serenity," said Hiccup.

"Hello," said Serenity. She turned her attention to the Skrill. "You can let him go." Hiccup cut the net off the Skrill. The dragon got to his feet as the riders ran out of his way. The Skrill roared, his mouthful of static.

"Flash!" Serenity called. The Skrill paused and turned to her. He calmed down a bit and approached her. He lowered his head to her level. Serenity held her hand out to him. He allowed her to stroke his snout.

"Hi Flash," she said softly.

"Good to see you again Serenity," said Flash. The riders were watching from a distance.

"You know this Skrill?" asked Fishlegs.

"I do," said Serenity. "I met him on Dragon Island a few years ago. He's a good friend." She scratched Flash under the chin, making him purr.

"Why didn't you say so?" asked Astrid, getting mad. "That Skrill almost killed Hiccup and Toothless. You could have come with us and saved us the trouble." Serenity looked at the ground guiltily. The other riders left and headed back to their huts. Astrid marched up to Serenity, very angry. She didn't get too close though, as Serenity was standing next to a Skrill.

"What is wrong with you!?" Astrid shouted. "You just sit here doing nothing instead of going out and helping us fight the hunters. And you're always hiding behind dragons. No wonder you don't have any friends." With that Astrid stormed off. Serenity leaned her head on Flash's neck.

"You can go home if you want to Flash," she said.

"Thanks but I think I'll stay here," said Flash. "The last thing I want is to end up in the ice again."

"I thought you liked sleeping in the ice," said Serenity.

"Yeah, but I've had enough ice sleep for a while," said Flash. "It's like being sent to my room. And I didn't even do anything wrong." Serenity smiled, but her eyes were still sad. Flash nudged her. Tenor laid down and lit the campfire.

"Why don't you take her flying?" he suggested. "I'd do it but my back is starting to hurt." Flash beamed.

"Why not," he said. "She's the only human I would ever allow on my back." He lowered himself to the ground and Serenity climbed onto his back. Then Flash spread his wings and took off. Tenor dozed off. Flash flew over the outpost, then headed over the rest of the island. Serenity felt better. Even though she didn't have any human friends, she had her dragon friends and that made her happy. Little did she know that Astrid had other plans.


	12. Maces and Talons pt 1

Maces and Talons pt. 1

Re and Aurora were paying Dragon's Edge a visit. Hiccup had gotten information from Heather about the dragon hunters' location. He planned to attack them and release the helpless dragons they had caught. Re and Aurora were all too happy to help.

Over at the yurt, Serenity sat quietly in her chair. The fire blazed in the fire pit. Tenor and the Skrill, Flash, sat on either side of her chair. Serenity liked having her dragon friends near by. Both dragons noticed that she wasn't happy. She had her focus on the distance horizon.

"I heard the air is very clear the farther north you go," she said.

"It's true," said Flash. "I flew up there once. I pretty much know my way around the ice."

"Um why do you Skrills sleep in the ice?" Serenity asked, changing the subject.

"It's pretty simple," said Flash. "I find an iceberg and conceal myself inside. The iceberg drifts south. Before too long it will melt and release me. That's when I find food. Then when all the food is gone, I head back north to start it all over again."

"Very interesting," said Serenity. "I guess you didn't like it when these riders broke you out too soon and threw off your routine."

"Yeah," said Flash. "Except for you, humans ruin everything."

"Including her face," Tenor added, he pointed to the scar on Serenity's face. Flash looked at it.

"Oh my," he said.

"It's okay," said Serenity. "It's not as bad when I'm around dragons." She stroked Flash's snout. Flash nuzzled her, his wings crackled with static out of pleasure but took care to not shock Serenity.

Up at the clubhouse, Hiccup and the dragon king and queen were discussing the upcoming mission. Hiccup studied the coordinates provided by Heather and was looking them up on his map. He looked up at the two Draconians.

"You guys have battled hunters before right?" he asked.

"Not quite this advanced, but yes," said Re. "We fought many hunters, and won."

"I wonder if you three would fight the hunters this time round," Hiccup said. "Just to see how professionals do it." Re and Aurora exchanged a glance.

"Well, Tenor's going to love that," Re said. "Alright."

"Thanks, we'll back you up," Hiccup promised. "And remember, don't kill Dagur or Ryker. They're the key to finding the leader of the dragon hunters, Viggo Grimborn."

"You've told us that before Hiccup," said Aurora. "We are not as dense as you make us out to be."

"Sorry," Hiccup said, blushing. "You should get some rest, we strike tomorrow." Both dragons nodded. They turned and flew out of the clubhouse.

They landed back on the yurt. Serenity sat in her chair, fiddling with the Dragon Eye. Both Tenor and Flash were dozing off. She looked up when her king and queen landed. She put the Dragon Eye down so she could hug them. No one spoke for several minuets. Tenor sat up and stretched.

"Tenor, Hiccup asked us to take down the dragon hunters on this mission," Re said. Tenor's eyes went wide with excitement.

"Oh, yes," he said, pumped up. "When do we go?"

"Tomorrow," Re said. Aurore turned to Serenity, who looked unsure.

"You going to be okay here?" the queen asked.

"I will ma'am," Serenity said, as confidant as she could. "I have Flash, and the Night Terrors. I also figured I can find something to do with this." She picked up the Dragon Eye. "Since no one else is going to be using it for a while."

"Sounds good," said Re. He nuzzled her face and she hugged him back, still clutching the Dragon Eye. After several more silent minuets, Serenity got to her feet.

"I should get some sleep," she said. She turned and went inside, taking the Dragon Eye with her. The dragons made themselves comfortable and went to sleep.

The next day Serenity woke up early so she could see her dragons off. Flash flew her up to the dragon stables, where everyone was meeting. The other riders were nervous about the Skrill, but said nothing. Astrid shot glares at Serenity, obviously still mad about Serenity not telling them that she knew the Skrill. The riders readied themselves for take off. Snotlout was looking the Skrill up and down.

"You know this Skrill will really be handy for this mission," he said.

"We can't risk Ryker and the hunters getting their hands on it," said Fishlegs. Flash narrowed his eyes.

"And besides, Flash will remain here and guard the base for you guys," said Re. The king looked at the Skrill. "You going to be okay with her?"

"Yes sire," Flashed confirmed. Hiccup turned to Serenity

"What will you do?" he asked.

"Tinker around with this," Serenity said, holding up the Dragon Eye. "Make myself more useful around here." The three royal dragons exchanged a concerned glance. Serenity mounted Flash and the riders mounted their dragons. They all turned and took off in opposite directions.

Flash flew back to the yurt. Serenity dismounted and they both went inside. Serenity sat at her table and set the Dragon Eye in front of her, fiddling with it. She started brainstorming ideas on how to prepare incase the Dragon Eye ever got snagged. She also glanced at the lens that had been in the artifact. Then the fires ignited in her head. She got up, put the Dragon Eye down, and snagged tools and pencil and paper.

Over the ocean Hiccup lead the squadron to the location of the hunters. Tenor was chomping at the bit, eager for action. Soon they spotted the hunters' ships. The dragons stayed above the clouds. The three Draconians glanced down at the ships with expert eyes.

"What's they're weaponry like?" Re asked.

"Bolas, nets, boulders, and dragonroot arrows," Tenor said. "They have weapons that can shoot many items rapidly."

"The arrows won't be a problem," Re said. "The rest can be dodged. Tenor you hang back here, we'll get you as much cover as we can. As for the rest of you riders, we'll let you know when you can go down there and free the dragons."

"Thanks Re," Hiccup said. Re and Aurora dived towards the ships. Tenor circled above the clouds, waiting his turn. The riders got into a spot where they could watch, and stay out of range. Re and Aurora attacked at once. They shot constant streams of flames, setting the ships on fire. They didn't let up. The hunters shot back at them, but the dragons dodged everything. They shot just enough fire to sink the ships slowly, but the riders could still do their part. While the ship's were burning, Aurora flew back up to the riders. She circled them, her eyes were wild.

"Go get them," she said. "But hurry, the boats are burning fast." The riders took off and headed for the ships. They landed on the decks and ran below to the dragon cages. Swarms of dragons flew out of the cages, and flew away to freedom.

While that was going on, Tenor continued to circle above the clouds. He was getting impatient. Suddenly Heather and Windshear dive bombed them. Windshear shot a few spikes at him, but the just bounced off his armor. The two dragons circled each other.

"Thanks for coming up here, I was starting to get bored," Tenor said.

"My pleasure," Heather said, smugly. She slashed and flipped her switchblade ax. Tenor just looked smug.

"Believe it or not, you don't look very threatening when you do that," he said.

"Well, what's you're way of looking threatening?" Heather asked. Tenor hovered in the air. His face went blank, and he kept every part of his body, except for his wings, completely still. He looked a bit like a flying dragon zombie. And Heather soon realized that, like a zombie, he was very slowly drifting towards her. She had to admit, it did look very threatening. Suddenly his ear twitched, and with a whistle of wind, shot into the clouds below. Heather and Windshear blinked for a minuet, stunned. Then they too flew below the clouds.

Tenor fought with his Night Fury side, as he often saw it. With all the smoke and steam from the fire, Tenor was well hidden. He flew at high speed and shot plasma blasts when he was in range. He blew up every ship, except the flagship, which had Dagur and Ryker on it. All the ships sank in seconds. The riders and dragons cheered at their victory. Tenor joined them after blowing up the last ship. He exhaled a huge breath.

"That felt good," he said. He rolled his shoulders, which was tricky as he was flapping his wings.

"That was pretty impressive guys," Hiccup said to the three Draconians.

"All in a day's work," Tenor said. "Well, in one morning anyway."

"Enough bragging Tenor," Re said. "Let's head back to the Edge."

"Let's," Hiccup agreed. He steered Toothless back in the direction of Dragon's Edge. The other's followed. The Draconians looked very pleased with themselves, the riders looked a bit anxious.

Back at the Edge, and in the dragon stables; Hiccup, Astrid, their dragons, and the Draconian dragons were cooling off. Astrid looked stressed.

"We have to pull Heather out," she said. "If I hadn't reacted her cover would have been blown."

"I wanted her out weeks ago," said Hiccup. "But someone talked me out of it."

"That was different," said Astrid. "This is getting way too dangerous."

"It's always been way too dangerous," Hiccup pointed out.

"She hasn't even met this Viggo character," said Astrid.

"Which is why we can't pull her out yet," said Hiccup. "If we find Viggo and take him down, the hunters will collapse."

"This is why I have take my comrades into every battle I fight in," Re said.

"What do you mean?" asked Hiccup. Re sighed.

"Pretend for a moment, that you've never seen the three of us before," Re explained. "And you saw us flying towards you, all armored up and wearing crowns. Who would you pick out as the leader?" Hiccup glanced at the three dragons, trying to picture it.

"I get it," said Astrid. "If a hunter saw you three coming, dressed up pretty much the same, they wouldn't know who's in charge."

"And they wouldn't know which one to take out," Re finished.

"Very clever," said Hiccup.

"Well, we should check on Serenity," said Aurora. "See what she's up to."

"Thanks for you help today," Re said.

"We'll let you know if we hear anything else from Heather," Hiccup said. The Draconians nodded. They turned and flew off.

They landed back at the yurt. Serenity was no where in sight. The dragons called for her. The door to the yurt opened and the dragon healer came out, looking worn out. She smiled when she saw her family.

"There you are," Tenor said, warmly.

"Sorry, I was working on something," Serenity said. She threw her arms around each of them. "Did you free the hunted dragons?"

"We did," Aurora said. "However, I get the felling this Heather girl is sitting on a ticking time bomb. Their luck will run out, it's already started." Serenity looked at the queen.

"What's going to happen Aurora?" she asked. Aurora looked strait ahead and her face went blank.

"I can't see specific details," she said. "I can see regret and defeat. I can see, a Flightmare very clearly."

"Polaris," said Serenity. Aurora smiled at her.

"Yes, that's his name," she said.

"I should probably tell the riders," said Serenity. "They got awful mad when they found out I knew Flash. I don't think the like me very much anymore." She looked at the ground sadly.

"They'll get over it," Aurora said. "And besides, we still love you. So do thousands of other dragons." Serenity gave them a small smile, the dragons always knew what to say.

"What were you working on?" Tenor asked. Serenity went into the yurt and came back out with several sheets of paper.

"I've been working on blueprints for the Dragon Eye," she said. "It could be snatched at anytime, and I'm sure Hiccup and Fishlegs will want to keep using it."

"Very smart," Tenor said. "And I'm guessing they will be really thankful for that." He chuckled.

"Should I tell them?" Serenity asked.

"No," said all three dragons in unison.

"Leave it a surprise," Re said. "Wait until they think all hope is lost, then pull out the spare Dragon Eye."

"Alright," Serenity said. She went and put the papers back inside. Flash was sound asleep near the stove. She petted him, then went back outside with the Dragon Eye. She sat in her chair. The dragons laid down around her.

"Very interesting that," Re said, looking at the Dragon Eye. "They way it projects images onto the wall."

"Technology like that won't be seen for several hundred years," said Aurora. "Projecting devices will be invented later, but not quite as sophisticated as this Dragon Eye though."

"Hiccup's already invented the flight suit," Serenity said.

"Yes, he's certainly putting the human race ahead a few thousand years," Aurora said. "I wonder what else he'll invent."

At that moment Hiccup and Toothless came up to them. The three dragons looked up to acknowledge him.

"We got a Terror from Heather," Hiccup said. "She thinks she has an opportunely to take out Viggo. She wants to meet up tomorrow night."

"Alright," said Re. Hiccup looked at Serenity, who was looking out at the sea.

"Why don't you come too," he said to her. "There won't be any fighting and hopefully no hunters." Serenity sighed and considered. Toothless wormed his head under her hand.

"I suppose," Serenity said after a few minuets. She scratched Toothless's ears.

"Great, thanks," said Hiccup. "If your done with the Dragon Eye, Fishlegs and I would like to use it." Serenity handed him the Dragon Eye. He took it, and left. Toothless stayed where he was, since he had nothing else to do. Serenity kept petting him.

"What do you think Viggo will do next?" Toothless asked.

"Dragon hunters will not let anything get in the way of their business," Re said. "To them dragons are worth more dead than alive. Hiccup and his small band of riders are not match for the thousands of hunters under Viggo's thumb. We may have to take matters into our own hands, if this hunter is like the others we've battled."

"Does that mean bringing up the Draconian squadrons?" Serenity asked.

"Not necessarily," Re said. "I will bring up a few dragons from Draconia. But not all of them."

"How big are the squadrons? and How many are there?" Toothless asked.

"There are eighteen squadrons," Re said. "And I don't know how big they are exactly. Dragons come and go a lot, and the numbers are constantly changing. But I can say that they are all pretty big."

"We haven't met any other dragons from the homeland," Toothless said. "Besides you three and Lord Draco himself."

"Well, we may have to do something about that," said Aurora cheerfully. "They've never met a Night Fury."

"Are there more Night Furies out there ma'am?" Toothless asked.

"I don't know Toothless," Aurora said, a note of pity in her voice. "I'm sure there are some, but I don't know for sure.

"I don't want to be the last one," Toothless said sadly.

"You're not the last one," Re said. "Not completely. There's still Tenor." They looked over to the Night Fury hybrid.

"Yeah that's true," Toothless agreed. "You won't die on us will you cousin?" Tenor scoffed.

"Please, nothing can take me down," he said. "I won't let anything take me down, not when I have friends to protect." Just then they heard Hiccup calling for his dragon.

"I better go," Toothless said. He nibbled Serenity on the cheek, then turned and ran towards Hiccup's house.

Later that night, Serenity was woken up from a pleasant dream of flying over a mountain full of dragons by something nudging her. She opened her eyes and saw Lord Draco himself looking down at her. She sat up, too quickly.

"My lord!" she said, surprised. "What brings you here?"

"Easy my child," Draco said quietly. "I would like you to help me with something."

"Anything sir," Serenity said, her voice was timid.

"This Dragon Eye has me interested," Draco said. "I wish to add to what it has already. I would like you to help me make a Dragon Eye lens, that shows the location of Draconia." Serenity's eyes went wide as she got to her feet.

"But my lord, the hunters will easily find it if they got their hands on such a lens," she said. "Draconia will no longer be safe."

"Not to worry," Draco said. "I've thought of that. The Dragon Eye lenses that currently exist can be used with a certain dragon's flame. In order to work this Dragon Eye lens, you would need the fire of a dragon with magic, such as myself or Aurora. And even if the hunters managed to get it to work there's still the matter of getting to Draconia, and I plan to make that a lot harder than it sounds. Trust me, Draconia is well guarded."

"Alright, so what do you need me to do?" Serenity asked. Draco smiled.

"I can make the lens, but I can't put the information on it," he said. "I can not write human text. That will be your job."

"All right," said Serenity. "It would have to be in Latin." Draco just shrugged. He reached up and pulled a bit of his gold armor. Then he plucked a green scale from his shoulder. He held both items in his paw. They levitated, then started spinning. A green light engulfed them for a few minuets. Then it vanished, leaving behind a gold Dragon Eye lens, with a deep green gem in the center. It spun in mid air. Then Draco handed it to Serenity. She took it.

"If the hunters get their hands on this, Re and Aurora will never forgive me," she said, a note of panic in her voice. Draco nuzzled her.

"This was my idea," he said. "You can tell them I created it so that these dragon riders can learn more about our kind, such as our culture. It'll be okay." Serenity took a few deep breaths and calmed down.

"I should get back," Draco said. "Will you be okay with this?"

"Yes sir," Serenity said. Draco nodded. He turned to go.

"Get some rest, you'll need it," he said. He spread his wings to take off.

"My lord," Serenity said. Draco looked over his wing at her. "Tell Chris I love him, and that I miss him so much." Draco gave her a look of pity.

"I will," he promised. "And he misses you too. Not a day goes by when he doesn't think of you. You'll be together again, dragon's honor." With that he turned and took off, vanishing into the wall. Serenity sat on the bed, looking at the gold Dragon Eye lens. She yawned and put the lens on her night stand, then she crawled into bed and went back to sleep. Draco even let her finish her dream about the mountain.

The next day Serenity spent most of the day indoors, putting the information on the lens. She wrote it all on sheets of paper first. Then she used a powerful microscope to put the final result on the lens. The dragons didn't disturb her, which made it easier. She was finished by lunchtime. She made a copy of the information, then put it with the blueprints for the spare Dragon Eye. She put the original draft in her pocket and the lens down her shirt, she planned to make it into a pendent later.

She left the house to find all five of her dragon friends talking amongst themselves. They smiled when they saw her.

"Hey lovely," Tenor said warmly. "How are you?"

"Thirsty," Serenity said. Aurora handed her the water canteen. She drank it gratefully.

"We're meeting Heather tonight," Tenor reminded her.

"I know," Serenity said. "I'll be ready."

"We plan to head to Berk and give Stoic a hand," Re said. "You lot going to be okay here?"

"Yeah, we'll be fine," Tenor said. "I'll keep her safe." The king and queen nodded. They turned and flew off.

Latter that night Serenity and Tenor joined Hiccup, Astrid, and their dragons at the stables. Without much chatter they took off, and headed to the meeting point Heather had disclosed. They reached it at the same time Heather and Windshear did. They all landed and the riders dismounted.

"Hey Serenity, hey Tenor," Heather said.

"You sure you weren't followed?" Astrid asked.

"Pretty sure," Heather confirmed. "I've come with good news. Viggo plans to hunt the Flightmare and it'll be just me, Windshear and Viggo."

"A Fligtmare?" said Serenity, curiously. She remembered what Aurora had said. "Polaris." They all looked at her.

"You know the named of the Flightmare?" Astrid asked, she sound irritated. "Is there anything else you've been hiding from us?"

"I know the name of the Fireworm Queen," Serenity asked. "Her name is Sun." Astrid glared at her. Serenity backed up a bit.

"Why don't you tell us these things Serenity?" Astrid snapped. "Why don't you do something useful for a change?" Serenity started shaking. She backed up more. Suddenly she lost her footing and fell off the sea stack.

"Serenity!" Tenor cried. He took off and dived after her. But she hit the water before he could grab her. He managed to get her out of the water however, and flew her back onto the sea stack. Serenity stayed in the saddle, shaking more violently.

"Are you okay?" Heather asked.

"I...I...think...so," Serenity stammered. She laid her head down on Tenor's neck.

"I should get her home," Tenor said.

"Will you help us take down Viggo?" Heather asked.

"Yeah, of course," Tenor said. "You can be sure of that." He turned and took off. He headed back towards the Edge. Serenity didn't say a word.

The reached the yurt, Hiccup and Astrid not far behind. They planned to gather the other riders and head right back out. Tenor landed beside the yurt, Flash was no where in sight. Serenity dismounted, she looked very upset.

"You okay?" Tenor asked, concerned.

"Can't we go home?" Serenity asked, close to tears. Tenor sighed and nuzzled her.

"You can go home whenever you want lovely," he said. "But I must stay out here until the hunters are defeated. These dragons are counting on me." Serenity hugged him.

"Please don't hurt," she begged. Tenor wrapped his wings around her.

"I promise you, everything will be okay," he said. "I need you to trust me."

"I trust you," Serenity said. "Tell Polaris I said hi, if you see him."

"Sure," Tenor said. They suddenly heard the riders circling near the yurt. Serenity stepped back, letting him go. Tenor lit the fire place.

"You should warm up and dry off," he said. "After that swim." Serenity nodded and sat in her chair. Tenor took off and joined the other riders. They turned and headed back out to sea, following a map that Heather had given them, to the Flightmare's island. Hiccup let Tenor lead the way, since he could navigate using stars. Hiccup was already forming a plan in his head on how they were going to take down Viggo. First things first, they had to keep the Flightmare out of his hands.

"Land ho!" Tenor announced. He pointed to an island that had a blue white glow coming off the surface.

"Good job Tenor," Hiccup said. They went in for landing, and touched down on the top of a trench. Below the Flightmare was lapping up the glowing algae, the blue white light coming from the water and the dragon's scales. It didn't seem to notice them. "We need to make sure Viggo doesn't get any where near that dragon," Hiccup said.

"How will we know when he gets here?" asked Astrid.

"Um, guys," Tenor said, pointing out at the sea stacks. They saw a single ship heading their way.

"He already is," said Hiccup.

"Ok, what's the plan to keep Viggo from getting the Flightmare?" asked Fishlegs. Hiccup reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a small pouch. He handed it to the Twins.

"I need you two to fill this with enough algae to..."

"Lure the Flightmare away," said Ruffnut, irritated. "We know." Tuffnut snatched the bag and the two of them go on their Zippleback. The others turned back to the on comer.

"As for the rest of us, we attack the ship," Hiccup said. "We outnumber Viggo."

"I'm going to have to disagree," Tenor said. He pointed to a dozen ships coming out from behind the sea stacks. This took them all by surprise.

"I though Heather and Viggo were coming alone," said Snotlout.

"They are," said Hiccup. "Which probably means they're not coming at all." The ships suddenly fired flaming boulders at them. Tenor shot a plasma blast at them, and they shattered before they hit any of the riders. He spread his wings and took off.

"Where are you going?" Astrid called.

"Cover fire," Tenor said. "It's night time, so I'll be able to hide better. Don't worry I won't abandon you guys." With that he vanished into the night. The other riders got back on their dragons and flew at the armada bellow.

The battle happened all at once. The ships fire arrows, boulders, bolas, and nets at the dragons; the dragons shot fire and spikes at the ships. The dodged the projectiles and kept firing at the ships. Tenor shot from ship to ship firing plasma blasts at the sails. He moved so fast that the hunters didn't have time to aim their weapons at him. He spotted Heather on one of the ships, fighting the hunters. Windshear was locked in a cage, and Heather was attempting to get to her. Tenor dived at the ship and fired at the hunters, making them scatter. He then landed on the deck and released Windshear. Heather ran over and mounted up.

"Thanks Tenor, we owe you one," Heather said. Tenor was about to answer, when he spotted a hunter heading for them. He roared and pounced on the guy, killing him with one bite to his neck.

"Let's go help the others," Tenor said. They took off and attacked the ships.

Suddenly the Twins flew by on their Zippleback, the bright blue Flightmare right behind them. The Flightmare was firing mist in a never-ending stream. It lit up the sky in a blue light. The hunters kept firing arrows at them, and the dragons kept dodging them. It was starting to get serious.

"Hiccup there's too many of them!" Astrid called. The Flightmare flew in circles, encasing the other dragons in a ring of mist.

"And the Flightmare really isn't helping," said Fishlegs.

"Hiccup, can't you just let it know we're the good guys?" said Tuffnut.

"Look, I maybe good with dragons," Hiccup said. "But I'm not Serenity."

"Yeah, at least she could get it to attack the hunters," said Ruffnut. "And she knows the Flightmare by name." Suddenly an idea struck Hiccup.

"Guys you just said something brilliant," he said.

"We don't have time to go back for Serenity," said Astrid. "And this really isn't the best place for her."

"No, we won't need her," said Hiccup. "Follow me." He lead the others towards the river where the algae was. Hiccup instructed them to fill small bags with the algae. When that was done they flew back at the ships, where Tenor and Windshear were still fighting, and the Flightmare was still circling. Hiccup lead the other riders towards the glowing dragon. The Flightmare saw them and flew after them, wanting the algae. Hiccup steered Toothless towards one of the ships, where he could see Dagur and Ryker. The riders dropped the bags and the spilled the algae all over the deck and the hunters. The Flightmare went insane. It landed on the deck and attacked the hunters. It sprayed it's mist at all of them, paralyzing them.

Hiccup meanwhile joined Heather and Tenor. They circled well out of range of the hunters.

"I'm sorry Hiccup, Viggo tricked me," Heather said.

"It's okay Heather," Hiccup said. "Were is Viggo?"

"Still on his ship I think," Heather said. She pointed to one of the ships below.

"Great, lets go get him," Tenor said. But Hiccup saw the Flightmare on Ryker's ship. The hunters had just thrown a net over it.

"Oh, no you don't," Heather growled. She steered Windshear towards the ship, ignoring Hiccup and Tenor. They moved to go after her, but the hunters shot at them. Heather managed to get passed most of them. But suddenly, they got trapped in a net. They fell onto the deck and the hunters closed in. They also managed to slip a metal muzzle over the Flightmare's snout.

"Tenor you get them out of there," Hiccup ordered. "I think it's time Viggo and I were properly introduced." Tenor dived at Ryker's ship. The arrows bounced off his armor and he blasted any rock, bola or net coming at him. He was about to blast the hunters that had Heather, when two other hunters aimed the Flightmare's next blast at him. The mist hit him right in the face. His armor blocked most of it, but his eyes ended up frozen shut. This made it harder for him to take his shot. He was forced to retreat. The other riders were also driven to retreat. Tenor used his sonar to locate Hiccup and Toothless. Astrid and Stormfly saw Tenor get hit and Heather being led into the ship's brig. Astrid steered Stormfly over and landed on Viggo's ship where Hiccup and Toothless stood.

"Viggo's gone," Hiccup said.

"Heather too," Astrid said. At that moment Tenor crashed onto the deck. He tried to get the mist out of his eyes.

"Sorry Hiccup," he said.

"It's okay Tenor," Hiccup said. "How are your eyes?"

"Okay, my sonar still works," Tenor said. "Unfortunately it can't tell the difference between Heather and he hunters. It was too risky to take the shot."

"Viggo's long gone," Hiccup said. "He's not messing around."

"You just realized this?" Tenor said.

"Our dragons might not be enough," Hiccup said. "We're going to have to outthink this guy, outsmart him somehow. Heather's life depends on it, and the Flightmare's."


	13. Maces and Talons pt 2

Maces and Talons pt. 2

The dragon riders gathered on the abandoned dragon hunting ship. They had been searching the sea for the hunters. Tenor finally got his vision back. Hiccup was still beside himself with worry for Heather and Windshear. He looked out at the foggy sea.

"I don't get it," Hiccup said. "How did Viggo escape? How could he have gotten Heather, Windshear, and the Flightmare?"

"I don't even want to think about what they're going to do to her," Astrid said, just as worried. "We should have pulled her out when we had the chance."

"Astrid she wouldn't have come with us," Hiccup said. Just then the other riders came back from their search.

"Did you find anything?" Hiccup asked.

"No," said Fishelegs. "They used the fog as cover." Hiccup felt the back of his neck heat up.

"I fell for Viggo's trap, and now he has Heather, Windshear, and the Flightmare," he said.

"It could be worse," said Tuffnut.

"How could it possibly be worse?" Hiccup asked.

"You could've brought the Dragon Eye," said Ruffnut. Hiccup crossed his arms.

"And how do you know I didn't bring the Dragon Eye?" he asked suspiciously. The Twins started babbling nervously. "Okay, you're right I didn't bring it."

"Good thing too," said Snotlout. "Then Viggo would have: Heather, Windshear, the Flightmare, and the Dragon Eye."

"Which is back on Dragon's Edge, completely unguarded," Hiccup said. Tenor got a strong sense of dread.

They took off and flew back to Dragon's Edge as fast as they could. When they got there, Tenor flew right to Serenity's yurt. The others checked the base, which was completely ransacked. The hunters had gone through every building. All their stuff was scattered on the ground.

"Look at this, I feel so violated," said Fishlegs.

"This was the last part of Viggo's plan," Hiccup said. "How could I fall for it?"

They quickly made their way up to Hiccup's house. Hiccup checked his trunk to look for the Dragon Eye. Unfortunately it wasn't there.

"Yup, they got it," Hiccup said gloomily.

"Are you sure you put it away after you got it back from the Twins?" asked Snotlout. Hiccup looked at him, confused.

"Got it back from the Twins?" he said. "What are you talking about?" Snotlout led them to a secret cave that he and the Twins had found and used. Sure enough the Dragon Eye was hidden among the clutter. Hiccup sighed with relief. They went to find Tenor, to plan their next move.

They found him laying in front of the yurt, he looked completely destroyed about something.

"Good news Tenor, the hunters didn't get the Dragon Eye," Hiccup said.

"No, they got something else," Tenor sobbed. He pointed to the yurt. They looked and saw that the door had been smashed open. They went inside and the place showed signs of a struggle. Toothless spotted red stains on the walls and floor, blood. The riders went back outside. Tenor hadn't moved, and they could now see that he was holding Serenity's hat, it was all torn up and bloodstained.

"Oh, no," Hiccup said, realizing what had happened.

"What would the hunters want with her?" asked Fishlegs. "They don't know what she can do."

"I don't know what they want with her," Tenor said, gloomily. "But I know it can't be good."

"You should have sent her home a long time ago," said Astrid. "We have enough things to rescue, now we have to rescue her." Tenor jumped to his feet. He glared at her, blue sparks flying from his nostrils.

"What Serenity ever do to you Astrid?" he asked. "To make you hate her so much?" Astrid looked taken aback.

"Whoa, whoa, I don't hate her," she said. "I just don't like that she kept crucial information from us, like the fact that she knew the Skrill or the Flightmare."

"We will get her back Tenor," Hiccup said. "We will get all of them back. I promise you that. I'm the one who let this all happen, I'm the one who fell for Viggo's plan. It's a mess."

"You're right it is a mess," said Astrid. "And now we have to clean it up, all of us."

"We can get the A Team from Berk, then go in dragons blazing," said Fishlegs.

"Re plans on bringing up a few squadrons from Draconia," Tenor said. "I'm sure they'll have no problem fighting you lot."

"No, we won't be doing anything," Hiccup said. "No one will be doing anything."

"That's my rider out there," Tenor said. "I can't abandon her."

"We will get her back Tenor," Hiccup said. "But we can't go in dragons blazing, that could get her killed. It could get Heather killed, it could get one of us killed." Tenor looked at the ground, accepting defeat.

"So you want to do nothing?" Astrid asked, shocked.

"I want to do the right thing," Hiccup clarified. "I need some time to think." He walked off. Tenor sat on his haunches.

"Serenity's smart, and she knows the Flightmare," he said. "Maybe she'll get away on her own."

"Don't worry cousin," Toothless said. "Serenity is valuable to Lord Draco, he'll get her out." Tenor felt slightly better.

"We won't let our riders fly off without her," Hookfang said. "No matter what."

"Thanks guys," Tenor said. He put Serenity's torn up hat on her vacant seat.

Serenity sat on a rock on an unknown island. The hunters had stormed the base while the riders and dragons were out, and had captured her. They chained her up; putting a shackle on each of her wrists, and a big one around her neck. A large, heavy chain linked all the shackles together, and another heavy chain was fastened to a cage where the Flightmare was being held. He watched her, concerned. He didn't like seeing Serenity chained up.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

"I am," Serenity said. "Are you okay Polaris?"

"Yes ma'am," Polaris said. "It's good to see you again." Serenity smiled at him. Just then they were approached by two hunters. Serenity scooted away from the cage. Because she had been sheltered by the dragons, she had no idea who these guys were. The larger one was completely bald and had an angry look in his eye, Serenity thought he looked like an aggressive turtle. The smaller man in front had short dark hair and goatee. He looked down at Serenity, he didn't look as angry as the larger man.

"Good morning my dear," said the younger man, his voice was calm and professional. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Viggo Grimborne, and this is my brother Ryker. I welcome you to our humble campsite. I apologize for the shackles, it's not very gentlemanly of me. But I assure you, once we're on the move they will come off. I do not wish to keep you as a prisoner, but an honored guest. So please make yourself at home. I will come to check on you later" With that he walked off, Ryker behind him.

"So that's Viggo," Serenity said softly, when they were well out of earshot.

"Yeah," said Polaris. "The most feared dragon hunter in the Archipelago. I don't know what he wants with me, and I can only imagine what he wants with you."

"Well, hopefully Tenor will come for me," Serenity said. "I'm pretty sure those riders won't." Polaris tilted his hear curiously.

"Why do you say that?" he asked.

"They don't like me much," Serenity said. "That's okay though, I'm used to it." She curled into a ball and buried her face in her knees. Polaris looked for something to say to cheer her up.

"Well, if I find a way out before Tenor gets here, I'll get you out too," he said. Serenity smiled again.

"Thanks Polaris," she said.

Later that evening Ryker came by with a bucket of glowing algae. He slammed it down in front of Polaris's cage. Polaris roared at him and tried to bite his way out. Ryker just laughed and taunted the dragon. Viggo soon joined them.

"Come now big brother," he said, in a very good mood. "This dragon is our guest, we must treat him well, keep him happy." He moved the bucket closer to the Flightmare. Polaris grabbed it with his tail, and began lapping it up. Viggo watch, satisfied. Serenity watched from her rock.

"Question is, what to do with our other guest," Viggo said.

"That traitor," Ryker growled. "Whispering Death tunnel, drop her in, let them rip her to shreds. It'll be entertaining the crew." Viggo stood up.

"I'm not concerned with entertaining the crew," he said, brushing the dirt off his hands. "They must stay sharp. It's only a matter of time before Hiccup organized a counter attack. Leave Heather be for now. She will be useful to us, much like our glowing friend here." He gestured to Polaris. Ryker went up to Serenity, she could see the hungry in his eye.

"What are you plans for this one?" he asked. "Burn her at the steak?" Viggo joined him. He looked down at Serenity as well.

"It would be too much of a shame to kill such a radiant woman," he said. "I'll keep her. I want her well treated also. Did you make any sense of the documents you conviscated off her?" Ryker reached into his pocket and pulled out the notes Serenity had made for the gold Dragon Eye lens.

"The writing is unfamiliar," Ryker said. "But this symbol." He pointed to the Draconian crest at the bottom of the map. "One of the dragons that attacked our fleet had that on his armor. I believe these tells of a dragon utopia. And information on how to find it is on the gold Dragon Eye lens I gave you." Viggo's eyes lit up.

"She's remarkably talented," he said. "For one so lovely. We will discuss this further at another time, and compare these notes to the map I stole from that traveling dragon. For now, we must prepare for battle." They turned and left. Polaris looked up from his bucket.

"Were they talking about Draconia?" he asked.

"Yeah," Serenity said. "Lord Draco wanted to make a Dragon Eye lens that showed the dragon riders where Draconia was, and what was found there. He made it so they would know more about dragon culture. I'm not worried however. Draco has assured me that Draconia is well guarded, and he made it impossible for these hunters to reach it. Even if they somehow got the lens to work."

"Well, that's something," Polaris said. He drank more algae. Serenity watched him, curious.

"What does that taste like?" she asked.

"Milk that's very watery and salty," Polaris said. "It's where I get my mist. I'm going to need it, if I'm going to fight our way out of here." Serenity curled back into a ball.

Over the ocean Hiccup, Astrid, their dragons, and Tenor were flying back to where the battle had been. The other riders and dragons were back on the Edge, gathering their strength for the next encounter.

"Hiccup what are we doing?" Astrid asked.

"If we're going to face Viggo again, we need to know more about him," Hiccup explained. "We're going to take another look at his ship, see what we can find." He clicked the stirrup and picked up speed.

They soon arrived at the abandoned hunting ship, and landed on the deck. The two riders dismounted and they all went bellow. The searched high and low for clues.

"It's no use Hiccup, they took everything when they left this place," Astrid said.

"You ever notice Viggo never puts himself in danger," Hiccup said. "He always puts his soldiers on the front line."

"Do you think he knew Heather was working with us all along?" Astrid asked.

"I think at some point he found out, and he used her to manipulate us," Hiccup said.

"I still don't think we're going to find anything here," said Astrid.

"Um, hey guys," Tenor called from the corner. "I found something." He pointed to the thing he found, Toothless was looking at it as well. The two riders went over to investigate. They saw a box covered in a clothe. Hiccup removed the cloth, revealing wooden box with a 3D map and little piece inside.

"What is that?" Tenor asked.

"Maces and Talons," Hiccup said. "The Viking King. That's supposed to me." He pointed to the piece at the bottom left corner.

"Who's that then?" asked Astrid, pointing to the piece in the upper right corner.

"Chief of the Marauders," Hiccup said. "Which would be Viggo." He picked up a third piece that was in the middle, which was broken in two. "And this piece, this would be the Traitor."

"Also known as Heather," said Astrid. "I think Viggo meant for you to see this."

"It's a challenge," said Hiccup. "He's daring me to play."

"Why did he break Heather's piece?" Astrid asked, fearing the answer.

"Because the Traitor dies in the end," Hiccup said, with an air of dread. "The Traitor always dies." He tossed the broken piece back onto the game board. Tenor and Toothless exchanged a confused glance.

"As if vikings couldn't get any more complicated," Tenor said.

"Did any of that make sense to you?" Toothless asked.

"Apparently this is Viggo's very creative way of throwing down the gauntlet," Tenor said. "And the prize is Heather and Windshear."

"That's two prizes," Toothless said. Tenor just rolled his eyes.

"We need to get this back to the Edge," Hiccup said. He gathered up the game board and put it in his saddle bag. They made their way back up top. The two riders mounted up, and they all took off.

Back at the Edge, Hiccup and Astrid showed the other riders what they found. They were all very interested.

"Hiccup, Maces and Talons," Fishlegs said excitedly.

"I know Fishlegs," Hiccup interrupted.

"But Maces and Talons was designed to test the future chiefs in the heat of battle," said Fishlegs.

"I'm not taking over as chief of Berk," Hiccup said. "Viggo left this for me as a challenge." He picked up the broken piece. "He wants me to play for Heather's life."

"What if you don't play?" Fishlegs asked. For an answer, Hiccup tossed the piece back on the game board.

"Oh, no no," Fishlegs said, panicking. "You have to play Hiccup, you just have to."

"And we need a strategy," Snotlout added.

"That we do Snotlout," Hiccup agreed. "And it has to be one that Viggo has never seen before, one that he won't see coming. If we don't Heather won't stand a chance."

The dragons meanwhile were having their own discussion about the challenge. Since none of them knew what Maces and Talons was.

"So, we're going to battle Viggo for Heather and Windshear?" Stormfly asked.

"That's what it sounds like," Tenor said. "And my guess is, it won't be so easy."

"Do you think we'll rescue Serenity too?" asked Meatlug.

"She's not high on their priority list," Tenor said. "But I will save her too. I'd rather do that, then tell Re I lost his dragon healer."

"Why does his majesty think she's his?" Hookfang asked. "I thought she belonged to you."

"She's my responsibility," Tenor said. "But technically, she belongs to Ruby. She's his ward. I don't want to tell him about this either." At that moment Hiccup came up to them.

"Well, guys looks like we're playing Maces and Talons with Viggo," he said.

"We would love to help you Hiccup," Tenor said. "But we are dragons, we know nothing about viking games."

"That's okay, just do what we tell you," Hiccup said. "We'll get Heather and Windshear out of there."

"Serenity too?" Tenor asked. Hiccup sighed.

"Now Tenor, it's not that I don't care about her," he said cautiously. "We'll try to get her too, but we may have to get her back another day." Tenor flattened his ears, but said nothing.

Later that night the riders mounted the dragons and headed for Viggo's base. Tenor followed them. Hiccup hoped to use the night sky as his advantage, since he rode a Night Fury. They all stay well above the clouds.

"Now remember guys, Viggo is a mastermind," Hiccup reminded them. "We have to stay one step a head of them, at all times. Or it's game over." All of a sudden arrows came shooting at them. The riders and dragons dodged them.

"Where are those coming from?" Astrid asked, scanning the clouds. "They must have ships down there."

"Try a whole island," Tenor said. He pointed at a large island below. It had a huge crater in the middle, that had tents and cages all over.

"Viggo's base," Hiccup announced.

"It looks deserted," Fishlegs said. No sooner had he said that, then jets of fire came shooting at them. They looked below and saw about five Typhoomerangs being forced to fire at them by the hunters. The riders and dragons dodged the fire, while trying to come up with a way through.

"Hiccup, maybe we should retreat," Astrid suggested. "Regroup. There's no way we're getting through that." Hiccup thought hard.

"No, Viggo doesn't want us to retreat," he said. "It just seems that way. He wants us to get through. He wants me to find Heather, then his real game begins."

"Well if Viggo wants us to get through, he's got a funny way of showing it," Snotlout shouted.

"He doesn't want us to get through," said Hiccup. "He wants us to circle around and attack him from behind."

"But that's not what we're doing right?" Snotlout asked.

"Nope, we're going it this way," Hiccup said, pointing at the fire. "Through the fire." The riders kept dodging the fire. They waited for orders.

"Okay, I know you guys think I'm nuts" Hiccup said.

"We don't think you're nuts," Tenor said. "We know you're nuts." Hiccup ignored him, and continued.

"The Typhoomerang's fire," he explained. "It's like a tornado. If we go down the center of it, it'll be hot but the fire won't touch us."

Without another word the riders and dragons got into position for the next blast. When the Typhoomerangs fired again, the riders steered their dragons down the fire funnels. As Hiccup had predicted, it was very hot, but they didn't get burned. When the hunters lost sight of them, they ordered the Typhoomerangs to stop firing. When the fires were out, the riders attacked. They shot at the hunters, making them scatter. When they were gone, Hiccup told them their next move.

"You guys free the Typhoomerangs," he said. "I'm going to look for Heather." Tenor was about to say something. "Yes, I'll look for Serenity too."

"I just need to know that's she's alive," Tenor said. Hiccup nodded. The riders split up. Tenor helped free the Typhoomerangs.

Hiccup flew Toothless over the island, looking for Heather. So far he didn't see anything. But then he spotted something glowing in the distance. He steered Toothless towards it. They landed a good distance from it. Hiccup dismounted and headed for the glow. Toothless made of follow him.

"You stay here bud, and keep them busy," Hiccup said. Toothless obeyed. Hiccup ran through the woods, looking into each cage for Heather or Windshear. He didn't find either of them. But then he came to the Flightmare's cage. The hunters had put metal muzzle back on his snout. He growled at Hiccup. Then Hiccup spotted Serenity, still sitting on her rock, chained to the bars of the Flightmare's cage. She as curled into a ball, she didn't seem to notice Hiccup.

"Hey Serenity," Hiccup said, announcing his presence. Serenity looked up, surprised.

"Hiccup! I wasn't expecting you," she said. "Are the others here too?"

"Yes," Hiccup said. "I'm looking for Heather and Windshear, have you seen them?"

"No, I haven't," Serenity said, putting her head back down.

"I'll be back for both of you," Hiccup said. "I promise."

"Okay," Serenity said, without looking up. Hiccup ran off, and kept searching. He was having no luck.

"I'm not going to find her like this," he said to himself. He looked around for a better solution. He spotted a catapult near the cages.

"Yes!" he exclaimed and ran over to it. He aimed his shield at the movable part of the catapult, and shot the grappling hook at it. When it was secure, Hiccup pulled down the leaver and released. The catapult slingshot him into the air. From such a hight he could see above the trees. His quick eyes spotted a cage that had a figure covered in a tarp, Heather's ax sitting right outside.

"Gotcha," he said. He landed and ran towards the cage. He opened the cage. "Come on Heather, we need to get out of here." He took the tarp off, only to find Viggo instead of Heather.

"Welcome Hiccup," Viggo said, getting to his feet.

"Where's Heather?" Hiccup demanded.

"She won't be joining us tonight I'm afraid," said Viggo. "But on the positive side, you far exceeded my expectation. Good on you." Just then several hunters came out from behind the rocks and bushes, aiming crossbows at Hiccup.

"So many guards, so little time," said Viggo. "But to be fair, I will give you a head start."

"Why would you do that?" Hiccup asked.

"I am nothing if not a good sport," said Viggo. Hiccup decided to take the chance and go find Toothless. He turned and ran. He went back in the direction of Serenity and the Flightmare. He racked his brain for a reason for Viggo's move. But before he could come up with anything, he found himself face to face with two hunters holding the Flightmare between them. The Flightmare still had his metal muzzle on his snout. Hiccup hit the breaks. More hunters surrounded him. Just then Viggo joined them, perched on an empty cage.

"There you are Hiccup," he said. "Didn't get as far as I'd thought." Suddenly Toothless appeared beside Hiccup.

"Thank Thor you're okay bud," Hiccup said, slightly relieved. He turned back to Viggo. "Game over Viggo."

"I'm sorry you feel that way," Viggo said, jumping to the ground. "Now you must return what you stole from us, what has belonged to my tribe for centuries."

"You mean the Dragon Eye," Hiccup said. Viggo looked interested at that.

"Dragon Eye," he said, mostly to himself. "A fitting name, if you don't mind I'll use that." Hiccup mounted Toothless.

"Don't say didn't warn you," he said. But then Viggo signaled to the two hunters holding the Flightmare. They forced him to shoot his mist at Hiccup and Toothless, instantly freezing them. Viggo walked up to them.

"You and your Night Fury friend played right into my hands," he said, gleefully. "I expected more from you." He turned his attention to Hiccup's saddlebag. He reached into it, the Flightmare mist making it slightly difficult, and retrieved the Dragon Eye. He held it high above his head, and they all cheered. Having gotten his prize, Viggo turned and left. The hunters lead the Flightmare away.

Serenity sat on her rock, completely oblivious to everything that was happening. She was very worried about Polaris, but there was nothing she could do. She figured Viggo would be back at any time to take her away. Tenor was no where in sight, nor was any of the other riders. She was starting to loose hope, when she heard slashing sound right behind her. She turned around and saw that someone had severed the chains attached to Polaris's empty cage. She stood up and got off the rock, she was very stunned and scared. Suddenly she was grabbed and lifted of the ground by something silver. She screamed and tried to wiggle free.

"Serenity, it's okay I've got you," said the silver dragon. Serenity looked up to see Windshear looking down at her. Serenity relaxed and stopped struggling.

Hiccup meanwhile finally recovered from the Flightmare mist. When he and Toothless could move again, Hiccup glanced around. He spotted footprints leading to a tunnel. He clicked the stirrup. Toothless took off and they flew down the tunnel. They could see the blue white light from the Flightmare, and homed in on it. They rounded the corner and saw the hunters, only to be chased back out by the Flightmare. Hiccup and Toothless flew back outside and joined his friends, the Flightmare right behind him.

Windshear and Heather headed for the other riders as well, to try at give them a hand. Serenity spotted the Flightmare flying near them.

"Polaris!" she called. Polaris turned and saw her in the talons of the Razorwhip. He circled around and pulled up alongside. Before Heather could react, Serenity leaped onto to his back and held on tight.

"Thank you," Serenity called to Heather, who nodded. She then turned and steered Windshear away. Serenity flew Polaris over to the other riders. They were all surprised to see her riding the Flightmare.

"Serenity, are you okay?" Tenor asked.

"Yes," Serenity called back. Hiccup turned to the other riders.

"We need to sweep the tunnels for Viggo," he said desperately.

"Hiccup, you know he's not down there," said Astrid. "He's long gone by now." Hiccup had no choice but to accept the truth. He threw back his head and yelled at the top of his lungs in defeat. They all looked at him, very worried.

They all landed on the island to rest their dragons for the flight back to Dragon's Edge. Hiccup was red in the face. No one spoke for a long time. But then Astrid spotted something flying towards them.

"Look," she said, pointing it out to the others. Hiccup knew who they were.

"Re and Aurora," he said. "Maybe they'll know what to do." The king and queen landed next to them. Aurora inspected Serenity for injuries, and Re turned to Hiccup.

"Thanks for coming," Hiccup said, as calmly as he could.

"It seems we arrived too late," Re said.

"But we could really use your help in resolving it," Hiccup said.

"Count on it," Re said. "I plan on bringing a few other Draconians up here, and help the dragons up here fight theses hunters, and get them somewhere safe."

"We also need to get the Dragon Eye back," Hiccup said.

"Yes, that too," Re said. "And I reckon if this, Viggo, finds a way to use it without a Snow Wraith key, he'll be after every dragon in the Archipelago. The least we can do, is give those dragons a heads up."

"Good plan," Hiccup said.

Aurora finished inspecting Serenity. She didn't find any injuries. But Serenity still had the shackles on her neck and wrists. Aurora couldn't get them off without revealing her secret to the humans.

"I'm glad your safe Serenity," the queen said, nuzzling her. Serenity hugged her snout. "We don't want to lose another human."

"I wouldn't want that either," Serenity said. Aurora reached into a pocket in her armor, and pulled out the golden Dragon Eye lens. Serenity looked very guilty.

"I'm so sorry Aurora," she said.

"It's alright," Aurora said. "Father told us about this, he told us it was his idea. You are not to blame. Father got it back from Viggo when he was distracted by Hiccup." She handed the lens to Serenity, and she took it.

"They still have my notes," she said. "They can find Draconia with them." Aurora just snorted.

"Let them try," she said. "Millions of dragons live there, all armed to the teeth. Viggo has no idea what to expect. It's you we have to worry about. I don't want to loose you, they way we lost Chris." Serenity blinked back tears. Just then Polaris came up to them.

"Pardon this interruption your majesty," he said. "But if you need help keeping her protected from the hunters, I would be glad to volunteer." Aurora lightened up a bit.

"Thank you Polaris," she said. "Are you willing to work along side a Skrill?" Polaris nodded without hesitation. Hiccup approached them.

"We should get back to Dragon's Edge," he said. "We all need rest."

"A wise choice," Aurora said. Serenity got back on Polaris, the riders got back on their dragons. They took off and head for the Dragon's Edge, as the dawn came.

Out at sea Viggo and Ryker were in Viggo's office admiring the Dragon Eye. Ryker looked somewhat disappointed.

"It is decorative," he said. "Useless without the key, but decorative all the same." Viggo tutted.

"When the Dragon Eye was constructed," he said. "The locking mechanism was created with a solution that could only be burned away by the glow of a Flightmare." He turned to the Dragon Eye, which sat on the desk next to the notes he got from Serenity and a map from a dragon he'd captured a long time ago, that managed to escape. It was a map of the dragons' homeland. The only thing Viggo was missing was the golden Dragon Eye lens he'd also gotten from Serenity.

"According to these notes," he said. "That golden Dragon Eye lens is the key to finding the dragons' stronghold. If we find it, we'll make a fortune. My reputation will spread across the world, and I'll be known as the greatest dragon hunter in history."

"Pity that girl escaped," said Ryker. "The pretty one."

"A pity indeed," Viggo agreed. "I will need a healthy woman like that to carry the next generation of dragon hunters. I must get back her and her golden lens." He then turned to a caged Terror that was positioned behind the Dragon Eye. He banged his fist on the desk, making the little dragon light up the artifact. The Dragon Eye lit up and projected colorful images on the wall. In the very center, was a Night Fury.

"Hiccup will soon learn that his carelessness will cost him every dragon in existence," Viggo said. "They will be slaughtered and sold on the open market, including his Night Fury."


End file.
